Contact
Departments
Education
PSC in Piano Performance, San Francisco Conservatory of Music
MM in Piano Performance, San Francisco Conservatory of Music
BM in Piano Performance, New York University
Q&A
What is your hometown?
Los Angeles, CA.
What are you passionate about outside of music?
Cooking and roller coasters! I grew up in a family of excellent cooks who passed down generational recipes and a love of bringing people together around the dinner table. I also spent much of my childhood visiting Six Flags Magic Mountain and Knott’s Berry Farm with my family, which sparked my lifelong love of roller coasters. This also led to an obsession with the RollerCoaster Tycoon video game franchise and a childhood dream of becoming a roller coaster designer. These days, I still design virtual coasters in my spare time and keep up with the latest developments in the roller coaster community.
What was the defining moment when you decided to pursue music as a career?
The defining moment for me came when I started studying with Miji Kim at The Colburn School at 8 years old. Neither of my parents had any background in music, but they discovered Colburn while looking for ways to broaden my musical education and took the chance on scheduling a placement audition. I remember those early days at the conservatory being filled with wonder as I heard students practicing and performing pieces I’d never encountered before all while imagining myself performing across the street at Walt Disney Concert Hall. That sense of wonder has stayed with me to this day.
If you weren't a musician or teacher, what do you think you would be doing now?
Designing roller coasters for Rocky Mountain Construction or Vekoma.
If you could play only three composers for the rest of your life, who would they be?
Scriabin, Rachmaninoff, and Prokofiev.
What is your unrealized project?
Recording the complete etudes of Rachmaninoff and Scriabin.
Biography
Christian Douglas is a San Francisco-based pianist and composer whose performances have taken him throughout North America and Europe. A versatile soloist and collaborative pianist, he has appeared in recital series and festivals such as the Orford Music Academy, New York’s Piano at Noon, and the San Francisco edition of Art of the Piano. Performance highlights include a 2019 recital at Havana’s José Martí Memorial and a 2020 performance of Franz Liszt’s Hungarian Fantasy with the Variations Havana Chamber Orchestra, broadcast live on Cuba’s Radio Musical Nacional.
As a collaborative artist, Christian has worked with vocalists and instrumentalists in recital, recording, and educational settings. He has also performed in masterclasses with internationally recognized musicians and ensembles.
Christian’s composition have been featured in short films presented at national film festivals and in video games supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. His work reflects a broad artistic curiosity connecting classical performance with contemporary media.
Christian holds a Bachelor of Music from New York University, where he studied with Dr. Yoojung Kim, and a Master of Music and Professional Studies Certificate from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where he studied with Awadagin Pratt. Prior to his collegiate studies, he attended the pre-college program of The Colburn School, studying with Miji Kim and Jeffrey Lavner.