 | A major contributor to this article appears to have a close connection with its subject.(November 2019) |
Chris McKhool | |
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| Born | November 18, 1968 Ottawa, Ontario, Canada |
| Genres | Classical, instrumental, world |
| Website | sultansofstring |
Chris McKhool (born November 18, 1968) is a Canadian violinist, producer, guitarist, composer, and singer-songwriter. He has received numerous awards for his work, including four JUNO Award nominations and four Canadian Folk Music Awards for his various recordings.
Chris McKhool was born in Ottawa and raised in a musical household. He began violin lessons at age 7, and studied classical violin under the tutelage of Joan Milkson of the National Arts Centre Orchestra from 1977 to 1985, as well as performing with the National Capital String Academy and teaching himself to play folk guitar. In 1985 he moved to Montreal to study at McGill University, obtaining a B.A. in Psychology. McKhool moved to Toronto in 1993, studying jazz at York University. [1]
McKhool is known for his ability to bring together accomplished musicians of the world music scene. He has crossed the globe, performing at many prestigious festivals and earning four JUNO nominations [2] and four Canadian Folk Music Awards. [3]
His compositions have been performed with the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra, [4] Chicago’s Full Score Chamber Orchestra, and the Bangor Symphony [5] in the USA, as well as with many Canadian symphonies including Toronto, Vancouver, Edmonton, Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, Niagara, North Bay, Windsor, and Kingston Symphony Orchestra.
In 2013 McKhool was presented with a Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal [6] for his work in supporting community and music education programs for at-risk youth, as well as for his dedication to raising awareness of social and environmental issues through music.
In 2004, McKhool co-founded the innovative world music collective Sultans of String, [7] with Kevin Laliberté and Drew Birston, releasing six albums and winning multiple awards. Other band members include Eddie Paton, Rosendo Leon, and many special guests.
In 2015 McKhool produced the Sultans of String’s 5th album with JUNO Award winning engineer John “Beetle” Bailey, entitled Subcontinental Drift. [8] This album was made in collaboration with sitarist Anwar Khurshid; in 2016 the band toured across Canada, the United States and the UK with this formation, showcasing their collaboration. This album also propelled them to the Billboard World Music charts [9] in 2017. Subcontinental Drift also received a JUNO Award nomination in the World Music category [10] as well as their 3rd Canadian Folk Music Award for World Group of the year. [11]
In 2017 McKhool and Bailey co-produced a world music Christmas album with Sultans of String entitled Christmas Caravan. They toured across North America in support of the album, which was included in the New York Times Holiday Hits section [12] and Spotify's Holiday Albums Hit List, [13] as well as hitting the Billboard World Music charts at #6. [14] Special guests included Richard Bona, Paddy Moloney (The Chieftains), Nikki Yanofsky, Ruben Blades, Sweet Honey in the Rock, Alex Cuba, as well as the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra. His song "Sing For Kwanzaa” with collaborator Richard Bona won the 2017 Folk Music Ontario: Songs From The Heart Award [15] and the 2017 ISC International Songwriting Competition: World category [16]
His co-write "Snake Charmer” was used in the soundtrack of the film "Hotel Mumbai", which premiered at TIFF (The Toronto International Film Festival) to critical acclaim in September 2018.
McKhool and Bailey are currently co-producing the 7th Sultans of String album. Entitled "Refuge", it features many special guests who are refugees and recent immigrants to Canada and USA, as well as global ambassador's for peace, showcasing their extraordinary contributions to society. McKhool states "We believe that as a society, we derive strength from our diversity, We can find common ground between thoughts and ideas from around the globe, and this is an example we would like to show to our communities and our leaders."
For Refuge, McKhool and Bailey travelled from Canadian First Nations land to Toronto, New York, and Istanbul, Turkey to craft the sound of an album spanning many cultures, collaborating with artists as diverse as Béla Fleck, Yasmin Levy, and Turkish string ensemble Gundem Yayli Grubu.
McKhool has also worked with other notable recording engineers including Jeremy Darby (Live Aid, U2, Pink Floyd, Prince), George Seara (Jesse Cook, Michael Jackson, Sting) and Nik Tjelios (Ken Whiteley, Pete Seeger)
As a guest violin player, McKhool has also recorded and performed with several world, folk and jazz performers including Jesse Cook, Amanda Martinez, Pavlo, Club Django, Mike Ford, and Emm Gryner.
McKhool has also enjoyed a successful career performing for young audiences, appearing on television shows such as Mr. Dressup, YTV's Treehouse, TVOntario's Crawlspace and the CBC, as well as concerts across Canada. His 2008 children's album Fiddlefire! won the Canadian Folk Music Award for Children's Album of the Year, [17] and was nominated for a JUNO Award. [18] He has toured throughout Canada, including Baffin Island, as well as performing across the U.K. the United States, Indonesia, Cuba, Guatemala, Peru and Tibetan schools across the Indian Himalayas. FiddleFire! has been presented live at Toronto Harbourfront's Cushion Concert series, the Toronto International Jazz Festival, as part of JAZZ.FM education series, and headlined Toronto's First Night at the Rogers Centre (formerly Skydome.[5])
He created the world's largest bicycle bell orchestra in 2008, at Yonge-Dundas Square in Toronto with over 800 bell ringers. [19]
Chris McKhool and Sultans of String are fundraising partners with the UNHCR [20] and have also fundraised on behalf of the Outreach Foundation to assist refugees both in their homelands and those displaced by war.
McKhool's 2008 children's album Fiddlefire! has been nominated for numerous awards, including:
For a list of awards with Sultans of String, see main article: Sultans of String
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