Biography
Trumpeter Charles Lazarus’s eclectic career has been met with acclaim from critics worldwide. Lazarus made his main stage Carnegie Hall solo debut with the New York String Orchestra at the age of 19 while still a student at The Juilliard School in New York. He has been a member of the Dallas Brass, Meridian Arts Ensemble, Canadian Brass, and currently the Minnesota Orchestra. He has been on the trumpet faculties of Princeton University and St. Olaf College, and he has performed and taught master classes in every US state, Canada, South America and throughout Europe and Asia.
Lazarus is an avid proponent of original music and is active as a soloist and composer. In July 2007, he premiered his original orchestra pops show, A Night in the Tropics, with the Minnesota Orchestra and Osmo Vänskä. In the same year, Lazarus won the prestigious McKnight Fellowship for Performing Musicians. He has performed his own compositions for the Montréal and Ottawa international jazz festivals, live on Radio Canada, and he has two music videos featuring his compositions that have aired nationally on Canadian television. Charles has been a soloist with the Minnesota Orchestra, North Carolina Symphony, Les Violons du Roy, Les Jeune Virtuoses de Montréal and the McGill Chamber Orchestra. He has performed with the New York Trumpet Ensemble, The New York Big Brass, The London Brass, Montréal Symphony and with back up bands for Barry White and Joe Williams. He has recorded for television, and film scores, as well as with major symphony orchestras, and numerous classical, pop, and jazz ensembles. Lazarus recently released a solo CD of all original music, entitled Solo Settings, featuring a unique collaboration between diversely talented composers and performers including fellow members of the Minnesota Orchestra.