Billy Childs

Born: March 8, 1957, in Los Angeles, California

Education: piano lessons at age 6; enrolled in the Community School of the Performing Arts at age 16; Bachelor of Music degree in composition in 1979 from USC

Collaborations with: the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Wynton Marsalis, Chick Corea, Dianne Reeves, Dave Holland, Freddie Hubbard, Dorin Wind Quinet, New Century Chamber Orchestra and Plymouth Music Series, among others

Awards: 4 Grammy® nominations, 2 Alpert Award nominations, a nomination for the American Academy of Arts and Letters compositional award as well as a Sundance Film Composers Fellowship

Works commissioned by: the Los Angeles Philharmonic (Tone Poem for Holly, Fanfare for the United Races of America and For Suzzanne), Monterey Jazz Festival (Concerto for Piano and Jazz Chamber Orchestra), the Akron Symphony (The Distant Land and Just Like Job), Dorian Wind Quintet (A Day in the Forest of Dreams), the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra (The Fierce Urgency of Now) and by the Los Angeles Master Chorale (The Voices of Angels)

Educator: 1996-1999, piano and composition faculty of the UCLA Department of Music; 1997- present, piano and composition faculty of the Mancini Institute; 2000-2001, composition faculty of the UC Irvine Department of Music; guest lecturer and clinician at the USC Thornton School of Music Composition Forum, the Berklee School of Music and Lincoln Center's “Jazz for Young People”

Notable recordings: Take for Example This…, 1988 Twilight is Upon Us, 1989 I've Known Rivers, 1994 Child Within, 1996 Bedtime Stories, 2000