Chris Lewis
Trumpeter, teacher, coach,
Composer & Arranger
A former music education student who explored careers as an over-the-road truck driver, forklift operator, and HVAC system installer and designer, trumpeter, composer and arranger Chris Lewis rediscovered his deep love for music and returned to it as his true calling, rekindling his passion for the trumpet as a lyrical yet virtuosic voice. He shares his passion for music through his private studio, helping students to develop both technical command and musical expression.
Now a performance graduate student, Chris’s performance focus has included a wide range of repertoire including traditional and contemporary wind ensemble and orchestral pieces, French conservatory solo works, jazz, traditional and contemporary brass quintet literature, and 18th-century standard concerti such as the Haydn and Hummel. As a brass quintet enthusiast, being captivated by the ensemble’s distinctive timbre and expressive potential, drawing inspiration from its ability to convey a rich spectrum of emotion, color, and dynamic contrast within an intimate setting, he is dedicated to using his performance and compositional platform to explore and expand brass quintet repertoire.
​
His brass quintet compositions, including the original composition Be Thou My Grace and his arrangement of Taps, have been premiered by Hyperion Brass. Chris’ most recently premiered his latest piece, Americana: A Western Ballad, with UNCSA’s faculty brass quintet, Watson Brass. Americana is a programmatic work that explores themes of early western American life and has had rave reviews and standing ovations at each performance.
His performance credits include the world premiere of Ashton Latimer’s competition-winning brass quintet piece, Entropic Cycles. Chris has performed in UNCSA’s 2025 production of the Nutcracker, Watson Brass, Hyperion Brass, the La Porte County Symphony Orchestra, and the DCI division I Capital Regiment Drum and Bugle Corps. Notable venues include The Vatican for a general audience with Pope John Paul II, the Tomb of St. Francis of Assisi, and major professional football stadiums across the United States.
He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Ferris State University and has studied at Grand Valley State University and Indiana University – South Bend. He currently studies trumpet with David Dash, and has studied with esteemed artists including Caleb Hudson, Hunter Eberly, Richard Stoelzel, Joe Bergstaller, and Jason Bergman. Chris is the recipient of the Watson Brass Quintet Assistantship, recognizing his artistic excellence and dedication to ensemble performance.
His future goals include pursuing international doctoral studies, teaching trumpet pedagogy at the university level, and professionally performing, composing and arranging music for brass chamber ensembles.
Music occupies a unique intersection of personal growth, emotional expression, community, and discipline. As both an educator, performer, and composer, I view music not simply as a craft to be mastered, but as a lifelong pursuit of connection, connection to oneself, to story, and to others. My philosophy centers on meeting each student where they are, developing them through foundations and intentional strategies, and guiding them toward meaningful, authentic performance. I believe every student is capable of growth, every performance is an opportunity for communication, and the study of music provides tools that strengthen character far beyond the concert hall.
Education
Core Beliefs About Music Education
Music education offers transformational benefits to students of every age and background. For young students, music can become an outlet during formative and often tumultuous years. Ensembles, concert bands, jazz bands, orchestras, chamber groups, create a sense of belonging in which students bond around shared goals, challenges, and triumphs. For all students, the study of music fosters discipline, persistence, resilience, and a capacity to reflect deeply.
Learning to read music is the development of a new language; mastering a musical instrument is the development of a lifelong technical and artistic skill. These skills cultivate creative thinking, perseverance in the face of setbacks, and the ability to communicate in ways not bound by words. Music gives students a lens through which to view the world in a more nuanced, empathetic way. Through phrasing, articulation, style, and tone, music communicates emotion and narrative with the same complexity as spoken language.
I believe every student, regardless of starting point, background, or circumstances, deserves the opportunity to engage with music meaningfully and successfully.
My Role as an Educator
I view my role as teacher as equal parts mentor, guide, technician, and coach. I approach instruction through Noel Burch’s Four Stages of Competence, and see it as my job to help students reach Stage Three, conscious competence, so that they can ultimately take ownership of their growth and reach Stage Four independently. My teaching exists to fill in the gaps that become barriers to musical communication.
I work intentionally to balance instruction with student autonomy. While I provide structured feedback, I strongly encourage students to listen critically to themselves and verbalize what they hear. Instead of reacting immediately with the solution, I may ask: “What did you hear in that phrase?” or “What changed from the first attempt?”
This approach develops not only better trumpet players, but more thoughtful musicians who are capable of self-evaluation, a skill that becomes essential once students enter advanced levels of study and professional playing.
Approaching Students as Individuals
I believe every student is capable of improvement and capable of communicating musically, given time, effort, and appropriate support. Students progress at different rates, face different challenges, and respond best to different strategies. My job is to adapt instruction, not push students through a standard template.
My expectations are simple: students must invest in their success, work as diligently as I work for them, approach lessons with a positive and realistic mindset, and track their progress. Documenting growth, either through recordings, reflection, or written logs, helps students recognize improvement that may not feel immediately noticeable. This practice builds confidence, perspective, and long-term motivation.
Fundamentals as the Foundation of Musical Growth
I believe that every aspect of performance can be traced back to fundamentals. Tone, articulation, air support, posture, rhythm, intonation, musical literacy, and interpretive planning are the pillars on which expressive communication is built. While every student’s needs are different, I consistently prioritize musicality and sound production, because even the most advanced repertoire lacks meaning without attention to musical expression.
My diagnostic process is structured, systematic, and incremental: hear the issue in context; isolate the passage; slow down and simplify; and assign targeted work. The goal is not temporary “fixing,” but internalization, equipping students with the understanding and experience to carry the work into new repertoire and independently identify and solve similar problems in the future.
Repertoire and Instructional Material
Materials are never selected by grade level alone. Instead, I ask: What is the student lacking right now? Which single step in development will benefit them the most? What repertoire can meaningfully challenge them without overwhelming progress? If a student needs stronger multiple tonguing, I will choose pieces that naturally demand it. If they lack expressiveness, I may assign a lyrical étude or slow concerto movement. Repertoire becomes a tool, not a checklist, to fill gaps that stand between the student and artistic expression.
The Role of Performance Experience
Performances, juries, auditions, and recitals are invaluable. They not only develop technical and musical skills, but also teach students how to manage nerves, remain focused, perform under pressure, reflect constructively, and build resilience. Every performance is a laboratory for testing strategies and discovering what helps each student thrive.
Equitable Instruction and Socioeconomic Accessibility
High-quality instruction should never be reserved only for families with financial means. Equity means that students deserve an honest chance at their goals, winning auditions, and applying to top schools because they were taught with care and commitment. High-quality instruction involves effort outside the lesson, thoughtful planning, clear structure, and the expectation that if the student works hard, success is achievable.
Developing Mindset, Resilience, and Motivation
Progress in music is rarely linear. I encourage students to maintain a growth mindset, helping them recognize that improvement is often gradual. Through empathy and shared experience, I help students understand that even professional musicians experience doubt and imperfect performances. The goal is not perfection, but progress.
What I Hope Students Carry Forward
More than anything, I hope that students leave my studio with a lasting love of music, the desire and confidence to express themselves through it, the understanding that discipline and consistency yield results, and the courage to push through difficulty. If students walk away with an internal connection to music, then I have succeeded as their teacher.
Performance
When I perform, I believe my responsibility is to both the audience and the composer, to communicate the emotional intent of the music with honesty and conviction. Listeners choose to spend their time with us, and I view performance as a temporary escape, a shared emotional moment, and a gesture of respect toward the audience’s time.
Authentic Performance
An authentic performance is one in which I allow myself to be vulnerable. Technique must be secure, but the heart of performance lies in expression, bringing one’s personality, experiences, emotions, and interpretation into the music. When a performance leaves space for the audience to feel something, it has achieved its purpose.
The Mindset of Stage versus Practice
My practice room mindset is defined by patience, grace, discipline, and tenacity. In practice, I know I am not perfect going in and will not be perfect leaving. On stage, the preparation is done, the music will unfold, and my job is to communicate. Missed notes are part of the live musical experience.
The Connection Between Teaching and Performance
My performance experience deeply informs my teaching, allowing me to offer practical solutions and real-world perspective. Conversely, teaching informs my performance by deepening my awareness. The process of articulating concepts makes me a more thoughtful and expressive performer.