Biography
Kristin Center (born August 8, Cambridge, MA) is an American fusion singer-songwriter, concert pianist, record producer, audio engineer and contemporary composer whose electro-acoustic style incorporates elements of blues, Afro-Cuban jazz, reggae, funk, classical and R&B with a fierce lyrical message of open your mind.
Studying solo classical piano since age 5, she made her first public performance at age 6 in Seattle, Washington and since then has pursued a rigorous academic, creative, and performance-based lifestyle. This lifestyle formed a straight-shot solo-entertainer career in the summer of 2010 revolving around rapidly increased YouTube subscribers, the release of her self-produced 2011 EP, Consider The World, a New York tour in 2011, and final move to Los Angeles, California in January of 2012 where she self-produced, mixed and released two albums, initiated a local House Concert phenomenon, and began combining her creative work with environmentalism.
In a modern sense, Kristin's contemporaries are Norah Jones, Fiona Apple, Sara Bareilles, Alicia Keys, Lily Allen, Nellie McKay, Regina Spektor and Ingrid Michaelson, while her compositional roots are traced to Rachmaninoff, Ravel and J.S. Bach.
Early Life and Family
Kristin is of Native American, French and German ancestry. However, much of her cultural upbringing is derived from Spanish, Italian and South American traditions. In 1997, Kristin's family moved to the beaten path of Fall City, WA up into the mountains and established a small farm. Her early childhood was spent mostly alone, without any TV reception, thus causing her initial artistic inspiration to spawn mainly from her natural surroundings. Her father also pushed a heavy athletic lifestyle that included rock climbing, skiing and hiking; all of which stimulated and helped shape Kristin's creativity.
With an unorthodox exposure to a wide variety of music and cultures, Kristin's ear was trained from the very beginning to be very open minded, both musically and throughout her approach to the world. When her mother was pregnant, fetus-Kristin was introduced to live J.S. Bach performances and Mozart operas. Early adolescent years were spent checking out traditional African and Caribbean collections at the public library. As early as age 5, Kristin began composing melodies with her mother at their upright piano and also enjoyed drawing at the drafting table. As the time passed, Kristin's mother became an active Flamenco dancer and having previously spent much time in South America, the family's listening collection consisted of much "world music", Brazilian and latin beats, jazz and, of course, classical.
At age 9, Kristin became an active musician in various musical opportunities in the valley including numerous wind ensembles, orchestras, and big bands. However, the genres that she enjoyed and pursued the most were her solo classical piano and jazz alto saxophone. Upon becoming a young teenager in America, it was quite impossible to refuse influence from various current popular artists such as John Mayer, Christina Aguilera, Stevie Wonder, Norah Jones, James Brown, and Bob Marley. Because of these early-adolescent influences, her compositions were harmonically founded on classical and jazz chords, her voice sounded of pop and blues origin, and the undertone driving it all was a Brazilian and reggae mixed meter. Kristin's experience with different instruments also broadened her outlook on musical sounds. She played trumpet and horn for 2 years, djembe for 3, and dabbled in the harmonium and clarinet for 6 months.
Career and Study
At age 18, Kristin won the Gerschefski Competition Scholarship and at age 19 she became alternate finalist for the Seattle International Piano Competition. Later that same year she was the pro-Mozart Society Scholarship winner in Atlanta, a position that would fly her all expenses paid overseas to study and perform. The following year she became the GMEA first prize winner holding a recital debut in Savannah, GA. She has performed nationally in Seattle, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Boston and New York and internationally in Austria and France. Kristin held a full scholarship to Southern Methodist University where she studied with Alfred Mouledous (a student of both Walter Gieseking and Alfred Cortot) and Alessio Bax (winner of the 2009 Avery fisher Career Grant). Her previous predominant piano teachers were African Diaspora specialist, William Chapman Nyaho and Martha Thomas, the chair of the piano department at UGA where Kristin was the first performance student to complete a four-year Bachelors Music degree in three years. Kristin has recently developed her classical music technique working with artists such as Murray Perahia, Menahem Pressler, Orli Shaham, Jean Paul Sevilla, Robert Levin and Andrzej Jasiński in festivals including the International Keyboard Institute held in New York City and the Mozarteum Summer Institute in Salzburg, Austria where she also held full scholarships. While studying in France, Kristin worked with retired theory department heads of the Paris Conservatoire.
Upon returning to the United States after her France studies, Kristin began performing more and more of her own compositions that were widely received by a local fan base in Dallas. Within a short time she was performing at notable venues in Texas, such as The Kessler Theater, opening for Texas' superstar and state musician, Sara Hickman. Soon thereafter she performed at The Bitter End in New York City (a popular performing venue for Tori Amos, Billy Joel, Miles Davis, Stan Getz, Stevie Wonder, Lady Gaga and many more), New York's National Underground, Kenny's Castaways, Sycamore in Brooklyn and LA's famous Roxy Theater. The following year at Seattle jazz dive, Lucid, Kristin opened for "The Teaching" who were later featured on Macklemore and Ryan Lewis' album, The Heist.
In the Winter of 2009 Kristin co-founded with her business partner, Michael Jackson, an innovative program that aspired to bring classical music to a wider audience. The program was called Classical Open Mic (COM) and initially transpired at a local coffee house in downtown Dallas where diverse ethnic groups collected. Kristin and Michael drew talented students from SMU and other local colleges to perform for these audiences and begun a wave of new-found respect for classical music in the local hangout. The musicians also benefited tremendously from the program with the added practice performing and time connecting to the audience about their piece(s).
Kristin's biggest passion involves exposing the truth and generating activism, as heard in her lyrics and witnessed in her actions. This shines especially bright when it comes to protecting the organisms that have trouble speaking for themselves. In 2012, she began work with the Natural Resources Defense Council, an leading organization in the environmental movement, and in 2013 raised funds via Kickstarter and produced a video album titled, Respect For All, Inspired By Empathy For A Few, that has raised awareness to the diminishing bee population.
In 2014 Kristin performed selections from Respect For All, Inspired By Empathy For A Few and began working with more electronic sounds in her live performances. Most of these performances were privately arranged with homeowners who were long-time superfans of Kristin's work.
Other Accomplishments
Kristin is also a published writer and has given multiple presentations and lectures on African American studies in relation to music. One paper particularly involved the in depth study of William Grant Still and his art songs in comparison to George Gershwin.
Studying solo classical piano since age 5, she made her first public performance at age 6 in Seattle, Washington and since then has pursued a rigorous academic, creative, and performance-based lifestyle. This lifestyle formed a straight-shot solo-entertainer career in the summer of 2010 revolving around rapidly increased YouTube subscribers, the release of her self-produced 2011 EP, Consider The World, a New York tour in 2011, and final move to Los Angeles, California in January of 2012 where she self-produced, mixed and released two albums, initiated a local House Concert phenomenon, and began combining her creative work with environmentalism.
In a modern sense, Kristin's contemporaries are Norah Jones, Fiona Apple, Sara Bareilles, Alicia Keys, Lily Allen, Nellie McKay, Regina Spektor and Ingrid Michaelson, while her compositional roots are traced to Rachmaninoff, Ravel and J.S. Bach.
Early Life and Family
Kristin is of Native American, French and German ancestry. However, much of her cultural upbringing is derived from Spanish, Italian and South American traditions. In 1997, Kristin's family moved to the beaten path of Fall City, WA up into the mountains and established a small farm. Her early childhood was spent mostly alone, without any TV reception, thus causing her initial artistic inspiration to spawn mainly from her natural surroundings. Her father also pushed a heavy athletic lifestyle that included rock climbing, skiing and hiking; all of which stimulated and helped shape Kristin's creativity.
With an unorthodox exposure to a wide variety of music and cultures, Kristin's ear was trained from the very beginning to be very open minded, both musically and throughout her approach to the world. When her mother was pregnant, fetus-Kristin was introduced to live J.S. Bach performances and Mozart operas. Early adolescent years were spent checking out traditional African and Caribbean collections at the public library. As early as age 5, Kristin began composing melodies with her mother at their upright piano and also enjoyed drawing at the drafting table. As the time passed, Kristin's mother became an active Flamenco dancer and having previously spent much time in South America, the family's listening collection consisted of much "world music", Brazilian and latin beats, jazz and, of course, classical.
At age 9, Kristin became an active musician in various musical opportunities in the valley including numerous wind ensembles, orchestras, and big bands. However, the genres that she enjoyed and pursued the most were her solo classical piano and jazz alto saxophone. Upon becoming a young teenager in America, it was quite impossible to refuse influence from various current popular artists such as John Mayer, Christina Aguilera, Stevie Wonder, Norah Jones, James Brown, and Bob Marley. Because of these early-adolescent influences, her compositions were harmonically founded on classical and jazz chords, her voice sounded of pop and blues origin, and the undertone driving it all was a Brazilian and reggae mixed meter. Kristin's experience with different instruments also broadened her outlook on musical sounds. She played trumpet and horn for 2 years, djembe for 3, and dabbled in the harmonium and clarinet for 6 months.
Career and Study
At age 18, Kristin won the Gerschefski Competition Scholarship and at age 19 she became alternate finalist for the Seattle International Piano Competition. Later that same year she was the pro-Mozart Society Scholarship winner in Atlanta, a position that would fly her all expenses paid overseas to study and perform. The following year she became the GMEA first prize winner holding a recital debut in Savannah, GA. She has performed nationally in Seattle, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Boston and New York and internationally in Austria and France. Kristin held a full scholarship to Southern Methodist University where she studied with Alfred Mouledous (a student of both Walter Gieseking and Alfred Cortot) and Alessio Bax (winner of the 2009 Avery fisher Career Grant). Her previous predominant piano teachers were African Diaspora specialist, William Chapman Nyaho and Martha Thomas, the chair of the piano department at UGA where Kristin was the first performance student to complete a four-year Bachelors Music degree in three years. Kristin has recently developed her classical music technique working with artists such as Murray Perahia, Menahem Pressler, Orli Shaham, Jean Paul Sevilla, Robert Levin and Andrzej Jasiński in festivals including the International Keyboard Institute held in New York City and the Mozarteum Summer Institute in Salzburg, Austria where she also held full scholarships. While studying in France, Kristin worked with retired theory department heads of the Paris Conservatoire.
Upon returning to the United States after her France studies, Kristin began performing more and more of her own compositions that were widely received by a local fan base in Dallas. Within a short time she was performing at notable venues in Texas, such as The Kessler Theater, opening for Texas' superstar and state musician, Sara Hickman. Soon thereafter she performed at The Bitter End in New York City (a popular performing venue for Tori Amos, Billy Joel, Miles Davis, Stan Getz, Stevie Wonder, Lady Gaga and many more), New York's National Underground, Kenny's Castaways, Sycamore in Brooklyn and LA's famous Roxy Theater. The following year at Seattle jazz dive, Lucid, Kristin opened for "The Teaching" who were later featured on Macklemore and Ryan Lewis' album, The Heist.
In the Winter of 2009 Kristin co-founded with her business partner, Michael Jackson, an innovative program that aspired to bring classical music to a wider audience. The program was called Classical Open Mic (COM) and initially transpired at a local coffee house in downtown Dallas where diverse ethnic groups collected. Kristin and Michael drew talented students from SMU and other local colleges to perform for these audiences and begun a wave of new-found respect for classical music in the local hangout. The musicians also benefited tremendously from the program with the added practice performing and time connecting to the audience about their piece(s).
Kristin's biggest passion involves exposing the truth and generating activism, as heard in her lyrics and witnessed in her actions. This shines especially bright when it comes to protecting the organisms that have trouble speaking for themselves. In 2012, she began work with the Natural Resources Defense Council, an leading organization in the environmental movement, and in 2013 raised funds via Kickstarter and produced a video album titled, Respect For All, Inspired By Empathy For A Few, that has raised awareness to the diminishing bee population.
In 2014 Kristin performed selections from Respect For All, Inspired By Empathy For A Few and began working with more electronic sounds in her live performances. Most of these performances were privately arranged with homeowners who were long-time superfans of Kristin's work.
Other Accomplishments
Kristin is also a published writer and has given multiple presentations and lectures on African American studies in relation to music. One paper particularly involved the in depth study of William Grant Still and his art songs in comparison to George Gershwin.