Christine Fawson is a jazz singer and freelance trumpet player. She loves playing many different styles of music and she is primarily an old school entertainer.
Born and raised in Ukiah, California, Christine has also lived in Hawaii, Utah, Massachusetts and New Mexico and has enjoyed a career as a musician and solo artist for over twenty years. Christine grew up singing harmony with her family. She learned to play trumpet in middle school band with Mr. Shephard. She fell in love with jazz when introduced to it by John Mattern at Ukiah High School. She studied with Michael Siggard at BYU-Hawaii and at Berklee with Ken Cervenka, Charlie Lewis, Tiger Okoshi, Phil Wilson and more. Advanced studies with John McNeil, Fred Mills, Chase Sanborn and Bobby Shew.
Endorsed by the Bach corporation, Christine was on faculty at Berklee College of Music from 2003-2017 as professor of Brass, Ear Training, Harmony, Voice, Performance Studies and Ensemble. She served as a faculty advisor and traveled with the college evaluating student applicants through the Audition and Interview process. She served as Acting Chair of Brass (2014) and played in faculty big bands, brass quintet and orchestra. Christine taught Berklee Brass Weekend, Vocal Summit, Berklee in Puerto Rico and Berklee in L.A. She performed on recordings, promotional materials, and gave master classes at several partner schools. Christine has performed and lectured at the International Association of Jazz Educators and Jazz Educators Network conferences. She has been a guest conductor/adjudicator for the National Music Educators Association in several states.
A Sarah Vaughan Internatonal Jazz Vocal Competition Finalist in 2017 and 2019, Downbeat Magazine noted Christine as “A distinctive performer with compelling dynamism,” and Jack Bowers of All About Jazz, touts her presence as “a performer who must be seen, as well as heard to be suitably appreciated.”
Fawson has been a freelance performer for Wilson Stevens, The Disney Corporation, Bose, MSC Cruises and more, as well as jazz artists Phil Wilson, Victor Mendoza and the Rat Pack, and pop artist, Adele. She played trumpet in the 2021 CBS jazz tribute episode of The Young and The Restless, and subsequent sessions and episodes including the album, A Life Well Lived by composer and pianist Brad Hatfield. As a soloist Christine was featured in Mexico with the Guadalajara Jazz Orchestra in Miles Davis and Gil Evans’ Porgy and Bess, and performed at the Women in Jazz Festival in Lucca, Italy.
While living in New Mexico from 2017-2023, her performances included the Taos Bebop Society, The Outpost, Albuquerque Jazz Festival, Santa Fe Music Collective, Mayor’s Gala, Governor’s Inauguration Ball and the National Dance Institute. She taught classes for Los Alamos Jazz, and the Santa Fe Youth Symphony Assocation at Hummingbird Music Camp. In Rio Rancho she produced two summer concert series (2018, 2019) and three Christmas jazz concerts (2017, 2018, 2022) and wrote jingle adverstisements for local businesses.
Fawson has recorded four albums as a leader. Happy Talk (2003) is a collaboration with legendary trombonist and Grammy Award nominated arranger Phil Wilson. Her second album, My Side (2013) features original pop and jazz compositions by Christine and one of her favorite guitarists and songwriters, Scott Tarulli. A return to more traditional jazz roots is displayed in the 2016 album, Here Now. The latest release, Christine Fawson Sings Jazz (2018) features pianist Tim Ray’s contemporary adaptations of her favorite selections from the Great American Songbook.
From 2002-2012 Fawson was a member of the vocal jazz ensemble, Syncopation. Syncopation won 1st place in the 2008 Boston Regional A Cappella Harmony Sweepstakes and performed concerts, festivals and clubs in the United States and Japan. The band produced three recordings: A New Dance, Of Blue, and Wonderful You and performed throughout New England with The Boston Pops, including the July 4th Spectacular in 2009.
From 2004-2009, Christine was a member of Sherrie Maricle’s DIVA Jazz Orchestra. While with the band, she toured parts of Europe and the United States and played at Carnegie Hall, The Apollo Theater and Lincoln Center. In 2016, Fawson was one of the featured vocalists at Dizzy’s Jazz Club in Diva’s rendition of Ella Wishes You a Swinging Christmas.
Christine lives in Wayland, Ma with her husband Ross Hill, daughter, Kergan and border collie, Buddy. She enjoys walking in nature daily.