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REVIEWS

Kris's songwriting and creative artistry goes to another level. He peels back the first and second layers to express depth with lyrics and with musical themes. He's able to wrap them all in a great variety of musical genres.

Becker is a musician who has something important to say and knows how to say it. The profession will hear from this young musician.

Kris is a virtuoso. I am especially impressed with his own compositions.

Mr. Becker's style is evidently steeped in multiple genres but is not mere eclecticism. Rather, his compositions are a clear distillation of very personal musical impulses...I think music like that [of Becker's] is worthwhile to the masses of listeners on the fringe of [classical] music because it challenges definitions and breaks down barriers between the music they are familiar with (pop music) and that which they have never heard (most [classical] music)…[It] is undeniably evident that Kris Becker is a uniquely talented musician.

Some of Becker's sonorities are absolutely spellbinding and highly effective where he combines nu-classical, jazz, and rock into a synthesized style that works.

There are many brilliant performers these days; however, very rarely the intellectual and brilliant young composer can be found. Then, I believe that these few young composers must not only have a wonderful musical sense but have a strong spiritual inspiration as well. The young American Kris Becker is such a pianist, and composer.

The "visionary Kris Becker"...

I find your music to be both pleasing to the ear and innovative at the same time. The other thing is the more I listen to your music, the more I absolutely love it.

I can't think of anyones opinion that I regard so highly and love their music so much. I can honestly say that Kris is the only composer/person that I have met in the flesh that has brought tears to my eyes and goose bumps to my arms thru music.

Becker is a white guy with ridiculous rhythm.

His own compositions [are] ingenious and charming.

Kris Becker is as comfortable whipping through a Chopin impromptu with gentle and warm virtuosity as he is composing and performing his own classical, jazz or multi-genre works.

I love your own compositions. The music is infectious. I especially couldn't get the tune from your Fanfare for Life out of my head!

Fanfare For Life will astonish you.

[Four Curiosities] An electrifying set of solo piano music. The vitality of this set, particularly its closer, "Groovin'", owes much to the phenomenal pianism of its composer. I would love to see the score to these pieces.

I personally hope that Becker's Variations And Fantasias On A Somewhat Serious Theme would world-widely be appreciated and performed.

The "Variations [And Fantasias On A Somewhat Serious Theme]" give insight into the power of taking one idea and mutating it repeatedly. A theme with variation has a long tradition in classical music. It showcases the mettle of a composer while providing a reference for the listener throughout. It also requires a rather substantial amount of pianism to sell the package. Becker leaves little doubt as to his ability to do just that.

I love your compositions, particularly the Passacaglia. Beautiful!

"In Due Time" and "If Ever Two Were One (Alt. Take)" offer some spectacular Jazz.

"Feel The Truth" and "Try" groove with a solid foundation as these songs dive right into the Rock mode with terrific melodies and rhythms.

KRIS THE COMPOSER

Kris with a K: Award-winning music making. Compositional power with virtuoso piano and keyboard skills, jazz-influenced concepts, and intense rock. Spellbinding music from a trailblazing composer, songwriter, keyboardist, and concert pianist.
Nu-Classical/Jazz/Rock

Displaying "creative artistry that goes to another level" (Wayne Watson), Kris Becker invents music that electrifies the listener and glides effortlessly from style to style. A multi-genre composer and songwriter whose works and songs will "astonish you" (RadioIndy.com), the music of Kris Becker is winning instantaneous fans everywhere it's heard, from the casual listener to the most thoroughly-trained ear.

Full of scorching kinetic energy, unrelenting passion, blazing virtuosity, and a powerfully expressive beauty, the Kris Becker sound combines irresistible rhythms, enthralling melodies, and an array of gorgeous and cool harmonies that reflects the sophistication present at all levels of his sonic experience. In the words of Maurice Hinson, world-famous authority on piano music: "Some of Becker's sonorities are absolutely spellbinding and highly effective where he combines nu-classical, jazz, and rock into a synthesized style that works." Throughout his original nu-classical, jazz, and rock concepts a pursuit of highly intelligent craft is matched by a vibe that has far-reaching popular appeal.

But Kris is concerned with being real just as much as he is with being advanced. He is a highly-trained award-winning international concert pianist and composer, and an experienced in-demand performer on the keyboard across many genres. Yet his rootsy upbringing on a horse farm in a small agricultural Illinois town coupled with his inherent nature to work hard, face conflict head-on, fight the system, and never give up informs his make-your-own-way mentality. To involve the listener's mind while reaching the heart, to say something valuable and meaningful to as widespread an audience as possible with as much craft and visceral enjoyability as possible—this is Kris Becker's artistic mission.

A product of all sorts of multicolored musical and personal experiences, this young and accomplished artist takes his ideas in so many detailed directions at once that it is hard to believe one mind is responsible for all of it. The multi-style creations of Kris are in fact not an attempt to be eclectic, by his own confession, but are a natural expression of personal musical impulses, developed over time due to his tastes and influences. Whether inadvertently blending stylistic idioms or writing overtly in one genre or another altogether, the same unique compositional voice is always at hand somewhere with and in it all. It's all music to him. Kris makes it clear that he never initially tries to make a piece or a song sound one way or the other—when he starts writing, the ideas that come out are just there, unpremeditated. If what comes out sounds classical, jazzish, rock-like, or a combination of any of that, it's only because that is what is pulsating in his artistic lifeblood by nature.

In regards to his more classically-oriented material, which so often ends up integrating itself with sounds outside the traditionally classical realm, the opinion of Garrett Schumann of Sequenza21.com offers the perspective of the result, if not the intent, of Becker's creational impulses: "I think music like that [of Becker's] is worthwhile to the masses of listeners on the fringe of [classical] music because it challenges definitions and breaks down barriers between the music they are familiar with (pop music) and that which they have never heard (most [classical] music)." The fact that Kris Becker's music is capable of breaking down barriers between previously-accepted boundaries of style or between a person and his or her yet-to-be-acquired taste is a welcome and fortuitous byproduct of Kris' insatiable lifelong need to create music. Since his days as a child growing up in a non-musical family, he has entirely of his own accord been arranging musical ideas and making up yet more of them. In the spirit of Beethoven, Becker echoes the sentiment, "What I have in my heart must come out. That is why I compose." As his compositional ideas are unforced and unplanned, so has been his life as a composer.

If not consciously challenging definitions through his music, then questioning other long-standing tenets and establishing new ones are among Becker's convictions. Himself disdaining the phrase "art music" as exclusive to classical creations (for he maintains that all music is "art music") and preferring "classical music" or "concert music" to describe works in that genre, he is not truly satisfied with any existing terminology to describe his own music conceived in this vein. He has coined the term "nu-classical" to define music rooted in classical tradition but willing (keyword = willing, not required) to incorporate notions from more popularly-known styles such as jazz and rock and beyond, incorporating these distinctive elements to make something new and complete in and of itself, possessing its own identity. Sometimes the "classical" aspect in a nu-classical piece or song equates only with the fact that the work is composed out thoroughly, whereas the sound of the work may be very non-classical. And he also doesn't force himself into a box: if a piece seems determined to stay away from non-classical sounds, he lets it go a more traditional route. Becker thus further qualifies and perhaps most importantly explains nu-classical as any concert music written today but fusing intellect and spirit in a manner that makes the music not only smart but attractive to the ears and the sensitivities of the masses. No pretense. No attempt to be abstract or unreachable. Just a desire to be relatable both to a person who knows more about music and to one who knows less. In summary, the nu-classical style/genre reveals itself both a throwback to the ideal that concert music should be (by what most people's standards are) enjoyable, and also a progressive pursuit of new expression.

In a time when modernism in classical music favors mental complexity over holistic enjoyability, Kris' music is both richly elaborate and pleasing to the ear. While trends in modern jazz lean either towards the abstruse or the overtly popularized, Kris conceives powerful jazz tunes in an old-school straight-up 60s aesthetic. And during an era wherein rock 'n roll seems to veer away from its roots in earthy realism, Becker and his band The Frozen Heat embrace its gritty heritage and vintage ideals while exploring new directions for its future.

Both an old-school musician and a trailblazer of the new order, Kris Becker is a most unusual artist. An award-winning concert pianist who has played Carnegie Hall, a classical composer whose works have won awards and continually earn the attention and praise of the music industry, a jazz artist whose music has been recognized by the International Songwriting Competition, and touring rock keyboardist whose skills are sought after by critically acclaimed bands and legendary artists, Kris Becker is a unique inventor and interpreter of music. Fans, industry professionals, and fellow musicians continually rave over the appeal and memorability of his original music and the quality of its craft, while noting its ingenuity and the seemingly endless imagination which fuels its formation. This enthusiasm has already led many other artists to play and record Kris' works, and to commission yet more.

While Kris loves to inspire and ignite the soul of others, what fuels and inspires him is multi-faceted and runs deep. "There are many brilliant performers these days; however, very rarely the intellectual and brilliant young composer can be found. Then, I believe that these few young composers must not only have a wonderful musical sense but have a strong spiritual inspiration as well. The young American Kris Becker is such a pianist, and composer" (Borah Kang, concert pianist). The spiritual undercurrents in his work are audible and tangible: the sheer intensity and even frenzy at times which characterize its energy are as frequent in a Kris Becker musical landscape as are the quietude and simmering hope-tinged melancholy that so often appear. Rejecting the attitudes of the elitist but aspiring to relate to the common man. Not assuming the air of loftiness but yearning to aim for something higher. Facing the realities of life and the imperfections of the flesh, and wanting to help others as well as himself look toward that which is higher than all of us. You can hear these values in Becker's sounds just as much as in his own words: "Your feelings have failed you, but the truth never will. Your feelings have jailed you, but the truth loves you still" (Feel The Truth). "So slowly enslaving you, persuading you to try too high" also laments Becker in his song Try, as to the consequence of striving for the things of this life. To set your sights and hopes on the eternal and aim high only for that which lasts forever—this is Kris Becker's spiritual mission.

Breaking down barriers, initiating new ways of thinking, finding spiritual encouragement mutually with the audience—whatever the results of Kris Becker's efforts as an author of music, he simply writes what he feels and thinks, and he enjoys doing it. Kris knows the potency that art and ideas have to influence a person, for they've had a large influence on him. He desires only to bring joy and something worthwhile to as many people as possible, and with utmost excellence. Deemed a "dazzling talent"(Andrew Lienhard), a virtuoso, and a "uniquely talented musician"(Sequenza 21) by critics and pros, Kris Beckerʼs greatest desire is to take both his art and his audience always to another level.

RARITIES

ON THE FLY

For Bales Or When Johnny Comes Marching Home Fantasy

The Price Is Right Fantasy

CO-WRITING

Happens Every Time (The Literary Greats)