Christian Matjias (b.1963, Los Angeles, CA) - Piano and Harpsichord......and Edwardian Post-Modernist

Dance Musician: Pianist for Concert Performance and Studio Class (Ballet, Modern, and Spanish Dance), Composer, Dance Researcher and Published Scholar

Collaborative Pianist: Vocal, Choral, Instrumental Repertoire, Theatre, Opera

Recording Artist: Original Compositions and Ballet Repertoire

Christian attended the University of Southern California, where he studied Harpsichord, Early Music Performance, and Conducting. Since coming to the University of Michigan in 1998 as Professor of Dance and Music, he has been actively involved in a wide range of projects and interdisciplinary partnerships. The most comprehensive and ongoing project (in partnership with Tina Curran), and begun under the auspices of The George Balanchine Trust, is The George Balanchine Critical Editions, a project for which Christian is Editor and Lead Researcher. The Balanchine Critical Editions are practical choreographic documents and scores, archiving selected works by George Balanchine. The dances featured in the first component of the series are Concerto Barocco, Serenade, and Apollo.

Christian was company musician for Ballet Pacifica from 1990-92. From 1991-1998, Christian was on the faculty of the Interlochen Arts Academy, where he was a collaborative musician for vocal, choral, and instrumental music programs He was also pianist for Musical Theatre programs and an instructor of music theory.

Other projects include the reconstruction of a performance score for Philip Glass' North Star (Dunvagen Music, 1977) (with Gerhard Schultz); five compact discs of original compositions, Standing Alone (1999), Suites for Dance, Works for Cello and Piano (2001), Music for Modern Dance, Other Dances, Other Dancers, and Na Razie, bez Ciebie (all 2008) in addition to a disc of classical ballet variations Etoile Variations (2006).

He has been invited to present papers at conferences in the United States, England, Ireland, and Taiwan, and is a standing member of the Society of Dance History Scholars (SDHS), The International Council of Kinetography Labanotation/Laban (ICKL), The National Dance Education Organization (NDEO), and BMI.

His compositions have been used by a number of choreographers and produced in North America and Europe. He composed Existence Without Form for choreographer Uri Sands and the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, which premiered on their 2006-07 season. (reviews can be found in the Downloads link at this site). He has collaborated with Leopold Dance Group on Visiting Hours (2007) and Peniel(2008). Collaborations with Gail Gilbert include (2005),Silent Echo(2005), and We Choose(2008). In addition, other choreographers have worked with Christian's music, utilizing compositions drawn from Standing Alone, Suites for Dance, and Na Razie, bez Ciebie. Other commissions include Tell Me Where I Can Go? (2005), Nahe des Geliebten (2004), Dangerous Kitchen (2003), Vexed at Every Turn (2003), Statues in Motion (2002), and Catch, Hold, Save (2001).

Christian has collaborated twice with noted stage and film director, Robert Benedetti in productions of Marc Blitzstein's The Cradle Will Rock, and has played harpsichord the avant-garde cult singer, Jandek.