Christopher Parnis is a multiple award-winning jazz bassist, bandleader, and composer from Peterborough, Ontario. He spent his childhood with musical parents, bouncing between different instruments until finally falling in love with the electric bass at the age of 13. Over the next few years he was fortunate enough to study improvisation with the formidable Canadian pianist Steve Holt and begin working as a bandleader and sideman in his hometown.

At 18, Christopher left home to pursue his Bachelor of Music at Toronto's Humber College where he took up and began to focus on the upright bass, receiving the Toronto Musician’s Association Carne H. Bray Memorial Award, the Lenny Boyd Memorial Award, and the AM 740 Award in two subsequent years. As well, he played in the Bracken-Carson Quartet which won their division of the 2021 TD Niagara Jazz 4 the Ages competition. Since moving to Toronto, he has had the chance to study privately with Don Thompson, Neil Swainson, Mike Downes, Jon Maharaj, Kieran Overs, Amanda Tosoff, and Larry Grenadier.

Between bandleading and sideman work, Christopher has performed with groups at Toronto landmarks like The Pilot, The Rex, and Jazz Bistro, as well as in festivals such as the TD Victoria International Jazz Festival, the Kensington Market Jazz Festival, the TU Jazz Festival, the Live Jazz at Ontario Place Concert Series, the Westben Jazz Fringe Festival, and many events for his hometown’s International Jazz Day festival celebrations. He has also had the fortune to share the stage with a who’s-who of Canadian musicians such as Brian Dickinson, Reg Schwager, Terry Clarke, Robi Botos, Allison Au, Nathan Hiltz, Caity Gyorgy, and Jocelyn Gould.

Since 2019, Christopher has had the pleasure of leading his own quintet in developing iterations performing his own music exploring the lineage and impact of jazz in Canada. The band features notable up-and-coming musicians Christian Antonacci, Matt Greenwood, and Aaron Blewett, as well as acclaimed Canadian pianist Brian Dickinson. Their debut album ‘Everything You Could Be’ will be available everywhere on August 16th, 2024.