Christopher Hamlen

Christopher Hamlen
Bass
DSO member since 2017
Christopher Hamlen joined the DSO in 2017, after serving as Principal Bass of the Grand Rapids Symphony for five seasons. Prior to moving to Michigan, he was a member of the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra for two seasons. From 2006–2009, Hamlen was a fellow with the prestigious New World Symphony orchestral training academy in Miami Beach, Florida.
Hamlen received a Graduate Performance Diploma with Robert Kesselman and a Bachelor of Music with John Hood from the Peabody Conservatory. As a young bassist, Hamlen was principal bass of numerous regional, state, and national youth orchestras, including the Music Educators National Conference All-Eastern States Honors Orchestra, and later the Peabody Symphony Orchestra. He was a member of the prestigious New York String Orchestra Seminar in 2003. In 2000, Hamlen performed the Koussevitzky Concerto with the Reading Symphony Orchestra, of which he later became a full-time member.
When he’s not playing his bass, Hamlen can be found with his family, including daughter Claire, wife Melissa, and Wheaten Terrier Penny.