Christian Vachon

Concertmaster of the Hopkins Symphony Orchestra since the fall of 2001, Christian Vachon is also Assistant Principal Second Violin of the Bay-Atlantic Symphony in New Jersey. Dr. Vachon has played as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral leader in his native Canada, the U.S., Mexico, France, Austria, Taiwan, and Singapore. He has been featured live in recital on Radio-Canada’s “Jeunes Artistes” series. An avid chamber musician, he founded the Delta Trio in 1999 in Canada; within three months, the Mountain Group Foundation invited the Trio to play a three-city tour of Taiwan, with performances in Kaohsiung, Tainan, and Hualien. Dr. Vachon has been invited back to Taiwan for two more visits, to perform chamber music, teach, and give master classes.

During the past year, Dr. Vachon made his Mexican debut with a recital at the Museo Regional in Queretaro City. As part of a fellowship awarded through a collaboration between the Peabody Conservatory of Music and the new Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music in Singapore, he was guest concertmaster of the Conservatory’s String Ensemble and a guest member of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra. As had happened in Taiwan two years earlier, he was invited back to Singapore for a second fellowship just last month.

In addition to upcoming solo and chamber music performances in the U.S. and Canada, Dr. Vachon will give a lecture-recital at the University of Montreal, a live recital for Radio-Canada, and performances as Concertmaster/First Violinist of the new Canadian chamber ensemble FUSIONS. For FUSIONS, he and violist/conductor Jean-Philippe Tremblay will play the world premiere of Norbert Palej’s Double Concerto for Violin and Viola.

Christian Vachon was born in Windsor, Ontario, Canada in 1975. He began learning the violin at age nine with Maestro Nurhan Arman. He continued his studies at the McGill University Conservatory in Montreal with Professor Mauricio Fuks, and then with Professor Calvin Sieb at the University of Ottawa, which granted him a Bachelor of Music degree in 1997. He came to the U.S. to study with Martin Beaver at the Peabody Conservatory, earning a Master of Music degree in 1999 and a Doctor of Musical Arts in 2003.

Dr. Vachon devotes much of his non-performing time to teaching. In addition to private students, he maintains a large studio at the Music & Arts Center in Ellicott City, Maryland.