Billy Childs

When he was 16, Childs attended the Community School of the Performing Arts sponsored by the University of Southern California (USC). He studied music theory with Marienne Uszler and piano with John Weisenfluh. From 1975 to 1979, Childs attended USC and earned a degree in composition under the tutelage of Robert Linn.^[3]

While still a teenager, Childs was playing professionally. He made his recording debut in 1977 with the J. J. Johnson Quintet during a tour of Japan, documented as "the Yokohama Concert". Childs gained significant attention during the six years (1978–84) he spent in trumpeter Freddie Hubbard's group. His early influences as a pianist included Herbie Hancock, Keith Emerson, and Chick Corea. As a composer he is influenced by Paul Hindemith, Maurice Ravel, and Igor Stravinsky.

Childs's sister is the playwright Kirsten Childs.^[4][5]

Childs's solo jazz recording career began in 1988, when he released Take for Example, This..., the first of four critically acclaimed albums on Windham Hill Jazz. He followed that with Twilight Is Upon Us (1989), His April Touch (1992), and Portrait of a Player (1993). Chick Corea asked Childs to join his label, Stretch Records. Childs's next album, I've Known Rivers, appeared on Stretch/GRP (now Stretch Records/Concord Records) in 1995. The Child Within on Shanachie Records was released in 1996.

In 2000, Childs arranged, orchestrated, and conducted Dianne Reeves's project The Calling: Celebrating Sarah Vaughan,^[1] which won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album. Other artists and producers for whom he has arranged include Sting, Yo-Yo Ma, Chris Botti, Gladys Knight, Michael Bublé, David Foster, Phil Ramone, and Claudia Acuña.

In 2001, Childs formed a chamber jazz group consisting of piano, bass, drums, acoustic guitar, harp, and woodwinds. Sometimes the core group is augmented by string quartet, woodwind quintet, or both. Childs was influenced by Laura Nyro's collaborations with Alice Coltrane (on Christmas and the Beads of Sweat) and by a desire to merge classical and jazz music.^[6] In 2005, the ensemble released its first album, Lyric, Jazz-Chamber Music, Vol. 1, which was nominated for three Grammy awards: Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Best Instrumental Composition, and Best Arrangement, and won best instrumental composition for "Into the Light".

• 2003: New Composition Grant, Chamber Music America
• 2006: Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition, "Into the Light"^[7]
• 2006 Grammy Award, Best Arrangement Accompanying a Vocalist, "What Are You Doing The Rest of Your Life?"
• 2009: Guggenheim Fellowship^[3]
• 2011: Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition, "The Path Among the Trees"
• 2013: Doris Duke Artist Award
• 2015: American Academy of Arts and Letters Composer Award
• 2015: Grammy Award for Best Arrangement, Instrumental and Vocals, "New York Tendaberry"
• 2018: Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Rebirth; Childs' solo on the track "Dance of Shiva" was also nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Improvised Jazz Solo.
• 2018: Outstanding Alumnus, University of Southern California Thornton School of Music
• 2024: Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album, The Winds of Change

• 1993: Los Angeles Philharmonic, "Tone Poem for Holly" (Esa-Pekka Salonen conductor)
• 1994: Los Angeles Philharmonic, "Fanfare for the United Races of America" (Salonen conductor)
• 1995: Akron Symphony Orchestra, "The Distant Land" (Alan Balter conductor)
• 1997: Akron Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, "Just Like Job" (Balter conductor)
• 1997: Dorian Wind Quintet, "A Day in the Forest of Dreams" (Childs piano, with Dorian Wind Quintet)
• 2004: Los Angeles Philharmonic, "For Suzanne" (Dianne Reeves vocal soloist, Childs piano soloist)
• 2005: Los Angeles Master Chorale, "The Voices of Angels" (Grant Gershon conductor)
• 2007: American Brass Quintet, "2 Elements" (Childs piano, with American Brass Quintet)
• 2007: Fontana Chamber Arts, "The Path Among the Trees" (Billy Childs' JazzChamber Ensemble with Ying Quartet)
• 2009: Pacific Serenades, "String Quartet No. 1"^[8]
• 2010: Detroit Symphony, "Concerto for Violin and Orchestra" (Regina Carter, soloist)
• 2012: Ying Quartet, "Awakening String Quartet No. 2" (The Ying Quartet)
• 2022: Young Concert Artists (and a consortium of nine orchestras), "Diaspora: Concerto for Saxophone and Orchestra" (Steven Banks, soloist)^[9]

• 1992: Grenoble Jazz Festival, "Chamber Orchestra Music" (Steve Houghton soloist)
• 1994: Monterey Jazz Festival, "Concerto Piano and JazzChamber Orchestra" (Childs soloist)
• 1997: Mancini Institute, "The Winds of Change" (Roy Hargrove soloist)
• 2001: Kuumbwa Jazz Center "Into the Light" (Billy Childs JazzChamber Ensemble)
• 2004: Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, "The Fierce Urgency of Now" (Wynton Marsalis musical director)
• 2010: Monterey Jazz Festival, "Music for Two Quartets" (Kronos Quartet with Childs, Brian Blade, Scott Colley, and Steve Wilson)