Christopher Millard
principal bassoon
Christopher Millard, one of Canada’s best known woodwind artists, joined the National Arts Centre Orchestra as principal bassoon at the beginning of the 2004-2005 season.
Christopher Millard was the principal bassoon for the Vancouver Symphony and the CBC Radio Orchestra for 28 years. A regular guest artist and teacher at the Scotia, Banff, Orford and Ottawa Chamber Music Festivals, Mr. Millard has also appeared in concert and recordings with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Marlboro Festival, the World Orchestra for Peace, Chamber Music Northwest, the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, the Grand Teton Music Festival, and with the Victoria and Vancouver Symphony Orchestras, les Violons du Roy, Thirteen Strings and the National Arts Centre Orchestra. He regularly performs at home and on tour with the National Arts Centre Wind Quintet, a highly acclaimed ensemble that has made a debut recording on the Naxos label.
A student of the legendary Sol Schoenbach at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia, Mr. Millard also studied with the great French flutist Marcel Moyse. He has become an important teacher himself: he serves on the faculty of the University of Ottawa and gives annual masterclasses at the Domaine Forget in Quebec. For 20 years, Mr. Millard was the bassoon professor for the National Youth Orchestra where he helped nurture many of the best of the new generation of Canadian wind players. In September 2007, he joined the faculty of the Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.
He has received wide praise for his numerous recordings, which include a disc in the prestigious “OrchestraPro” series and two other solo discs for Summit Records as well as a CBC records disc of Italian concerti with Mario Bernardi and the CBC Radio Orchestra. His recording of the Hétu Bassoon Concerto won a 2004 Juno Award. In a review of his CD Duos, the peer journal The Double Reed called Mr. Millard “one of the great bassoonists of the 20th century.”
Christopher Millard is a skilled woodwind technician and operates a repair business in Ottawa. In addition, he brings to the public his fascination and love for music as host of the National Arts Centre Orchestra’s podcast series, the ‘NACOcast’.
October 2008
