Christopher Herz serves as the MCCSC Assistant Director of Orchestras and Elementary Strings Coordinator. A passionate advocate for music education and community engagement, he has taught in the Bloomington community since 2021 as Beginning Strings Instructor for the MCCSC Elementary Strings program and Lead Teacher for the Fairview Violin Project. He previously taught at the Eastman School of Music as Teaching Assistant to Professor Itamar Zorman and at the Eastman Community Music School as Violin Instructor. He is also the co-founder and organizer of Overtuned Fest, a contemporary music and rock festival in Bloomington, serving to inspire and educate young musicians in Monroe County.
An internationally recognized violinist, Mr. Herz performs as a soloist and chamber musician in Japan, Switzerland, and throughout the United States. He has collaborated with distinguished artists and ensembles including the JACK Quartet, Jiji Kim, Steven Schick, Todd Reynolds, Tony Arnold, Brad Lubman, Juan-Miguel Hernandez, Ben Hong, and members of the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra. Equally at ease across musical styles, he has appeared with the Terre Haute, Columbus, Louisville, and Evansville orchestras, and has performed with the Jacobs School of Music New Music Ensemble. His previous work at the Eastman School of Music includes performances with Musica Nova, OSSIA, the Bach Cantata Project, Eastman Repertory Singers, and the Beal Institute Film Project. He has also served as an artist fellow at the Bang on a Can and New Music on the Point festivals, and will perform as an institute artist for the Louis Moreau Institute this spring.
Mr. Herz is currently completing his Doctor of Music degree at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music under the guidance of Professor Mark Kaplan, with minors in Music Education and Informatics through the Luddy School. His dissertation, “Confluence of Third Stream Jazz and Classical Violin Traditions: An Analysis and Performance Guide for David Baker’s Jazz Suite for Violin and Piano,” explores the intersection of jazz and classical performance practices.
In addition to his teaching and violin work, Mr. Herz performs as a guitarist in Bloomington rock bands. In his free time, he enjoys playing soccer and spending time with his cats, Choco and Pippa.
OVERTUNED FEST 