In the present, I live a life of active adventure as a musician, a teacher, and a scholar based in the San Francisco Bay Area in California on the ancestral and unceded land of the Ohlone people. I was raised in a Filipino-Canadian home with lots of love and plenty of laughter in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada on the traditional territory of the Musqueam people. As husband and partner to Pia, son to Jaime and Maria, brother to Celine, grandson to Felizarda, godfather to Charis Nicolette, uncle to some, and nephew or cousin to many, I appreciate the affirmation and freedom my family provided me while I recognized and pursued my calling. I have discerned that the ultimate aim of my work is to accompany, affirm, encourage, and empower the people with whom I work to recognize and to pursue their own calling. Attending to and nurturing this vocation is a part of my contribution and commitment to the common good. Animated by a spirit of faith and zeal, I am most grateful for realizing my role in this life, for the occasions to share the work and my music, and for the opportunities to freely be of service to people.
I am a seeker of knowledge and wisdom in formal and structured academic environments as well as in informal and unstructured experiential learning situations. Along the way, I nurtured a number of related interests, some of which have developed lives of their own. My interest in music grew through various instruments beginning with the voice, then the piano, followed by the bass guitar, and finally the drum set with little detours in the world of percussion and forays with the guitar. My explorations in academia began with Jazz Studies, then Music Education, followed by Liturgical Studies, through Lasallian Studies, and lately in Educational and Interdisciplinary Leadership. I am comfortable with change and I am committed to cultivating and furthering my growth. The experiences I have gained learning and working in various fields and disciplines has taught me to apply a balance of careful listening, strategic critical thinking, creative problem solving, and compassionate social action to the work. At the heart of the work is the opportunity to be in relationship and to build community with people through open communication, warm collegiality, and effective collaboration (with a dash of quirky humour). My hope is that through these challenges I can become a better person for other people and perhaps I can even convey a little of who I am through the work and my music.
This website is an active memory project and public portfolio of my professional life as it unfolds. I post snapshots of works-in-progress for ease of reference and retrieval across platforms and I have archived previous projects, past gigs, completed coursework, and other miscellany and tangents that fascinate me. On one graduate school journey, I was encouraged to autobiographically inquire through narrative and so I write to reveal, to remember, and to reflect upon my experiences along this lifepath. Writing helps me to process my thoughts and ideas more clearly which hopefully translate into improvements in my professional practice. To be sure, these musings do not necessarily reflect the official views of any of the organizations I have been fortunate enough to represent past or present. More importantly, these expressions continually remind me to never take for granted that I am blessed to do what I do and to never forget to thank all of the people who have given me a chance, and who have guided and taught me along the way. As much as many of these reflections are retrospective, they also tend to orient future directions and indicate possible areas of study for me. As you browse, you may find these writings rather lengthy and verbose and it could be that the contents of this site may not be useful to anyone else. It appears that brevity is not my strong suit but non sequiturs are my specialty. Well. That said, here is a chronological career narrative written shamelessly in the third person.
Aside from my artistic projects, academic pursuits, and activities in ecclesial ministry, I am a voracious but slow and systematic reader. I prefer verity over fiction and I enjoy reading auto/biographies and memoirs. Academic tomes on Interdisciplinary Leadership; Praxial Music Education; Critical Theory and Critical Pedagogy; Narrative and Auto/Biographical Inquiry; Liberation Theology and Social Justice; Progressive Catholic Education, the Lasallian Educational Mission, and Adolescent Youth and Emerging Adult Spirituality; and the programming of Contemporary Christian Music, of Black spirituals and gospel music, and of Gregorian Chant in Catholic Liturgical Music Ministry and the connection between all of these also pique my interest. I am intrigued by the unorthodox strategies, unique theories, and eclectic concepts that I encounter while reading that shed light on purpose, process, philosophy, possibility, and progress. I am hardly an expert in any of these areas, but deep reading in all of these fields help to inform the work and my music.
On the lighter side of life, my wife, my family and friends, and my professional colleagues keep me well grounded. I am an avid and passionate Vancouver Canucks fan no matter where I live. I enjoy learning about Philippine culture and cooking; trying to better understand United States society and politics while vigorously maintaining my Canadian identity and heritage, eh; watching indie documentaries and foreign flicks; travelling; and keeping fit. I enjoy nerding out on the stories and the philosophies of the science fiction universe of Star Trek, much to the chagrin of others. When time permits, I update this simple silly website and I use my favourite font Verdana every chance I get. I may be a teetotaller but I am horribly addicted to raw coconut water. To make up for my abstinence from alcohol, I wail my cares away in my home recording studio by improvising on the bass guitar excessively in the saddest of all keys ... D minor. After all, we're all just trying to get to the good sounds ... one note at a time.
Finally, I am always plotting devious ways of combining traditional and progressive ideas, and of fusing older with newer ways of learning, teaching, playing, improvising, thinking, knowing, growing, adapting, doing, and being. I believe that there is wisdom in looking back to move forward. I aim for harmony and balance when I plot my projects. But, as a bumper sticker once read: "Don't start vast projects with half-vast ideas!" I believe that anything worth doing in life is worth doing well; the rewards are intrinsic. Yet, the gift of life and the grace of living in this world have much to offer and to teach me. So, I try to live with humility and integrity as I stroll, sometimes struggle, and often stumble along these roads less traveled.
I hope you enjoy your visit to my little corner of the web world. 'Click around here and stay awhile; you might swing into a surprise or two. Feel free to check out the latest recording or connect with me via Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, Spotify, or LinkedIn. And ... welcome!
Chris Trinidad | vi.28.2023 + amdg | pax et bonum |