Christopher Jenkins, viola

Christopher Jenkins, violist and New York City native, is an active chamber musician in the New York area and beyond. In his third season with The Young Eight, he maintains a teaching studio at The Bloomingdale School of Music in New York City. Mr. Jenkins is also the newest member of Invert, an alternative string quartet that performs at venues such as CBGBs and the Knitting Factory, and which engaged in its first extended U.S. tour this fall with indie-rock band Rachel’s. Semifinalist in the 2003 and 2004 Sphinx Competition and Third-Place Laureate of the 2005 Competition, Mr. Jenkins also plays with the Sphinx String Quartet, and performed at the Quartet’s Carnegie debuts in both Stern and Weill halls this past year. In May of 2005, the Sphinx Quartet played alongside the Guarneri Quartet at the University of Michigan’s Ford Honors Concert. In the spring of 2004, Mr. Jenkins graduated from the Manhattan School of Music, where he earned a Professional Certificate studying with Michael Tree and Karen Dreyfus. He earned his Master of Music degree at New England Conservatory, where he studied with Martha Katz, and his Bachelor of Arts degree at Harvard University, where he studied with Michelle LaCourse. Mr. Jenkins serves as the chairman for the Emerging Composers Competition.

Getting to know Christopher Jenkins

Hobbies: I love jogging and basketball.

Favorite Food: A nice medium-rare steak.

Most memorable/scariest musical performance experience: Performing in a piano quartet with Itzhak Perlman and Ron Leonard.

What do you enjoy about being a young artist? Exploring a creative career without being bogged down in a "9-5" job in my twenties.

Personal motto/quote: What you gonna do?

Most memorable Young Eight experience: The most gratifying experience I had at The Young Eight's String Seminar was watching my string quartet grow over the course of a week. At the beginning of our seminar, they were four timid students who had never played chamber music before, but by the time the concert rolled around, they had become a completely self-motivated and responsible ensemble. Before entering our program, they had never even thought about coordinating their bowings, or listening to each other for intonation (instead of just listening to themselves!) In our dress rehearsal before the concert, it was great to see that I didn't have to coach them anymore; they were all focusing very intently, were listening really carefully, and took responsibility to critique each other on the things I had pointed out. This was their first time in a quartet, and it made me so proud to see them working hard on their ensemble and really thinking about how together they were. Most importantly, I was glad to hear them practicing their own parts during their free time, and I saw how much they cared about getting together and making quality music.