Trumpeter Charles Lazarus is a multifaceted performer who has charted a unique course over his career, including tenures in several of the best-known brass ensembles in the world such as Canadian Brass, Dallas Brass, Meridian Arts Ensemble and the Minnesota Orchestra.
As a soloist, composer and bandleader, Lazarus has created multiple original crossover orchestral shows featuring him as soloist with his jazz ensemble. The shows include A Night in the Tropics, American Riffs, Fly Me to the Moon and The New American Songbook, featuring the Grammy Award-winning family quintet The Steeles. On Merry & Bright, his annual program of fresh takes on holiday favorites, Lazarus is joined by vocalists and an all-brass big band.
In 2015, Lazarus premiered Steve Heitzeg’s concerto "American Nomad," which was recorded live in January 2019 with the Minnesota Orchestra and Osmo Vänskä. Lazarus’ composition "A Perfect Square," paired with Michael Hall’s book of the same name, was made into a children’s animated short film.
Lazarus made his Carnegie Hall solo debut with the New York String Orchestra at age 19 while still a student at The Juilliard School in New York. Since then, he has soloed with dozens of orchestras and ensembles throughout North America and has performed and taught master classes in every U.S. state, Canada, South America, Europe and Asia. He serves on faculty at the University of Minnesota School of Music. He's been a member of several of the best-known brass ensembles in the world, including Canadian Brass, Dallas Brass and Meridian Arts Ensemble and has performed with Empire Brass, London Brass and the New York Philharmonic Principal Brass. Rounding out this eclectic experience, he has also performed his original compositions at the Montreal and Ottawa international jazz festivals, opened for Tony Bennett and performed with Barry White and Joe Williams.
Lazarus' solo recordings (Solo Settings, Zabava, Merry & Bright and Lovejoy) showcase his wide-ranging talent and feature collaborations with diverse composers, arrangers and performers.
