MICHAEL KRIS

Michael Kris is a Teaching Professor at the University of North Carolina, and he is also part of the teaching faculty at Duke University, Eastern Music Festival, and National Music Festival. An active performer, he is Bass Trombone with the North Carolina Jazz Repertory Orchestra and Principal Trombone of the North Carolina Opera Orchestra, Carolina Ballet Orchestra, and Chamber Orchestra of the Triangle. He is a former member of the North Carolina Symphony, serving as both Principal Trombone and Second Trombone and has performed with several orchestras throughout the eastern United States. Additionally, Kris is Artistic Director and Trombonist with the early music group Ensemble Collina.

Apart from his ensemble work, Kris is an active soloist and clinician performing and teaching internationally. Most recently, he presented concerts in 2019 at the prestigious Salzburg Festival and was a guest clinician in November 2019 at the Universität Mozarteum in Austria. At the University of North Carolina, he teaches low brass and chamber music, and his research focuses on the use of trombone in ensemble music of the late Renaissance and chamber music of the early Baroque.

Kris attended McNeese State University, earning a Bachelor of Music Education followed by a Master of Music in Trombone Performance at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. His principal teachers are William G. Rose and Tony Chipurn, Principal Trombone (retired) of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.