Chris Opperman: Biography

• Overview
• Discography
• Biography
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• Beer for Dolphins

Born:

Nov 20, 1978 in New York, NY

Genres:

Rock Music, Alternative Rock Music, Progressive Rock Music, Ska

Decades Active:

1990's|2000's

Pianist/composer Chris Opperman grew up in New Jersey and attended Berklee. While at Berklee, Opperman took a chance and contacted Mike Keneally to see if Keneally would be willing to produce the album he was putting together with his band from school, Chris Opperman and the Random Factor. The answer was yes, and in April of 1998 they recorded Oppy Music, Vol. 1: Purple Crayon for Opperman's own Purple Cow label. The album featured a mixture of pop/rock stylings and some of Oppy's more challenging, thoroughly composed, and sometimes dazzling instrumentals.

After graduating, Opperman moved to Los Angeles, maintaining his relationship with Keneally. Keneally served as producer on Opperman's second album, Klavierstücke (2000), a strictly solo piano affair with a mixture of exquisitely played compositions and improvisations. At the same time, Oppy was drafted for Keneally's eightpiece version of Beer for Dolphins, where Opperman played trumpet and just a bit of piano for the recording Dancing. For the next couple years, Opperman sought a musical place for himself in Los Angeles and tried to put a band together, while working at Universal Music Publishing Group.

In 2003, things started to pan out, with his band Special Opps starting to get gigs in the L.A. area. Also in 2003, Keneally was commissioned to compose a work for guitar and orchestra by the Netherlands Metropole Orchestra, and Opperman served as coorchestrator and copyist for both the concert and subsequent recording of The Universe Will Provide. Following that, Opperman was asked by Steve Vai to serve in the same capacity, as Vai got a similar commission. In addition to orchestrating, Opperman is slated to be a performer in that project as well. All this has transpired in addition to Opperman writing for and performing with his own band, with an eye to release Concepts of NonLinear Time in 2004.

- Sean Westergaard, All Music Guide