“Music is community. Being a part of a musical community lends me so much strength. The best thing I can do with the strength given is to give it right back. As a composer, the process of writing music is only a small first step on a much longer journey. After the written musical page leaves my hand, the real reward comes in watching the work grow and develop in rehearsal and performance. The satisfaction I get from witnessing people come together around music, whether in twos or thousands, stems from the connections and community that music creates.”
Charles Burns is a saxophonist and composer living in Culver City, CA. Charles’s work has been heard in New York, L.A., and around the world. As a saxophonist and a composer, he has been a regular feature on stages, in concert halls, at festivals, and in clubs throughout southern California. He has played his music with the Starlight Bowl Orchestra, to thousands of concertgoers, and is the founder of the Charles Burns Big Band, which performs and records his compositions. Active in the jazz, orchestral, and electronic music scenes, his latest work seeks to synthesize these separate genres into something both unique and cohesive.
He was born in Hollywood, Florida, but raised in Paramus, NJ. He graduated summa cum laude from New York University with a Bachelor’s in Music Technology, where he studied with Ralph Lalama, John Gunther, and Michael Migliore. He currently working toward his Master’s Degree in composition and performance at the prestigious California Institute of the Arts, where he studies with Steve Lehman, David Roitstein, Daniel Corrall, Vinny Golia, Michael Fink, and Larry Koonse. Passionate about education, Burns works with individuals, schools and communities to empower students academically and artistically.