Chris Vitas, Jazz Violinist

Chris Vitas has performed with the San Diego Chamber Orchestra, Starlight Theatre, the Old Globe Theatre, Lamb‘s Players Theatre, Pacific Chamber Opera, San Diego Repertory Theatre and the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee. He performs on record albums, CDs, motion picture soundtracks, and radio and television commercials. Chris has also shared the stage with such celebrities as Lyle Lovett, Robert Plant and Jimmie Page, Smokey Robinson, Dionne Warwick, the Moody Blues, Johnny Mathis, Frankie Lane, Tony Bennett, John Tesh, David Benoit, among others. Chris can be found in different concert venues performing around the San Diego area, such as the San Diego County Fair. He is equally adept at playing Classical, Gypsy Jazz, traditional Irish, Jazz standards, pop and show tunes.

Chris created Keltik Kharma in 1990 with guitarist Fred Benedetti. The albums reflect an interest and passion for all Celtic music, from traditional Irish airs to traditional fiddle tunes. Keltik Kharma performs traditional Irish arrangements and ambient New Age compositions. Keltik Kharma’s recent album, iKharma, was nominated Best World Album by the San Diego Music Academy. Chris’s latest album, Willow Weep for Me, is his first foray into the jazz idiom. When performing jazz at restaurants and lounges, Chris utilizes jazz tracks to fill out his sound, along with his electric or acoustic violin.

Chris has performed at:
The Prado, with Patrick Berrogain, doing Gypsy Jazz
The Private Parlor, on Fort Stockton Drive, now Concetta Antico Fine Art
The Roxy Restaurant, in Encinitas, with Peter Sprague
Hoffer’s Cigar Lounge, in La Mesa, with Bruce Cameron and the Full House Band
Little Italy Spaghetteria, with Bruce Cameron
The Encinitas Library Concert Series
The San Diego Folk Festival, with the Swing West Band
The San Diego County Fair, various music stages, as Kharmaman, jazz and new age
Dizzy’s, in concert with Keltik Kharma, Art Johnson, Cindy Lee Berryhill, and others
The Belly Up Tavern, with Cindy Lee Berryhill
The Four Seasons Resort, with Fred Benedetti