Christopher J. Russell, Ph.D., is the creator of the UkeStuff resources and the Technology in Music Education Blog. He is an elementary music teacher in the South Washington County Schools in Minnesota, primarily based at Nuevas Fronteras Spanish Immersion Elementary School. He was featured for his work in the area of technology integration in music education in the October 2014 issue of Choral Director Magazine, and was also interviewed in the Fall 2018 issue of Teaching Music. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Music Education from Northwestern College (Now the University of Northwestern, St. Paul), a Master of Arts in Music Education with a Choral Emphasis at the University of St. Thomas, and a Doctorate of Philosophy in Music from the University of Minnesota. He has also worked toward a Master of Divinity at Bethel Theological Seminary. He previously taught middle school music in the tropical climate of the Dominican Republic at the Carol Morgan School in Santo Domingo, was the Director of Choirs at Park High School in Cottage Grove, Minnesota (1997-2009), was the Director of Choirs at East Ridge High School in Woodbury, Minnesota (2009-2013), and the Choir Director at Oltman Middle School (2013-2019) in St. Paul Park and Cottage Grove, Minnesota. Dr. Russell is a lyric tenor, tubist and ukulele player. He has been a guest conductor of the South Washington County Community Band, has directed the orchestra for the Woodbury Community Theater, and has sung with the Woodbury Community Theater, the Minnesota Chorale, and the Minnesota Opera. Dr. Russell has presented over ninety sessions on various topics (including technology, ukulele, and sight singing) at professional conferences across the United States. In addition to his blogging at techinmusiced.com, He has written articles that have appeared in the Interval, the journal of the MMEA, and the Loop Magazine. In 2016, Dr. Russell began a blog about ukuleles in music education (ukestuff.info) and also hosts a music technology podcast with Paul Shimmons, the MET Podcast (Music Education and Technology), as well as the Ukulele Video Play Along Podcast. His primary ukulele YouTube channel (youtube.com/ukeplayalongs) has over 85,000 subscribers. In his spare time, Dr. Russell enjoys riding his 2002 Honda Goldwing Motorcycle and working with all kinds of technology. He is happily married to his wife Liz and has three sons (adult, middle school, and elementary school).
Availability for Presenting and Consulting
Dr. Russell is an entertaining and engaging public speaker who is available for presentations at technology conferences, music education conferences, and colleges and universities. Please send an e-mail to techinmusiced@gmail.com for further information.
Technology in Music Education 