Who Is Chris Swan?

Chris Swan is a New York City music educator and musician who has performed all over the world! He combines his love for music and people by helping others achieve their musical dreams!

Playing piano and singing, he has been a crowd favorite for years at numerous hotspots, including many popular vacation destinations in the Caribbean such as Aruba, St. Maarten, Curacao, Barbados, St. Kitts, and more! While pursuing a Bachelor of Music at Greenville University and then later at Hunter College, Swan has studied with such musical greats as Dr. Laila O’Sullivan, Geoffrey Burleson, David DeMotta, Ryan Keberle, Adam Maness, and Fred Hersch.

Landing his first gig at the age of 12, he’s been going strong ever since. Being a singer, rapper, piano player, trumpet player and writer has brought along many opportunities. This all progressed into numerous bands and projects before he started the LP Outsiders in college (where he studied piano performance).

LP Outsiders toured the country and put out 4 albums over 8 years of being together. This band brought along many opportunities including signing a major publishing deal with Windswept Pacific, appearing on the Three To Tango movie soundtrack, appearing on the Disney Channel with 98 Degrees and opening for Culture Club, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Cherry Poppin’ Daddy’s, Vitamin C and touring with Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. Chris also got the chance to play at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, played trumpet on a b-side on Natalie Imbruglia’s multi-platinum selling single to “Torn,” and has written with Robbie Nevil (of “Ce La Vie” fame). 

After LP Outsiders called it quits, Chris entered the world of piano entertaining, playing piano bars, private dueling piano events, and playing jazz gigs with some of the greatest working jazz musicians of today including trumpet-great Jim Manley (www.jimmanleymusic.com). Chris has served as a frontman as well as an accompanist to many singers and instrumentalists. He also has performed in his own jazz/soul/hip-hop cover band called The Sky West Trio since the early 2000’s playing clubs and private events in St. Louis as well as opening for the legendary R&B band Cameo.

Chris founded his own record company in 2017 called Soul Motivation Records. He writes, produces, records, and releases his own music through the label, which he calls “Inspirational Recovery Hip-hop.” To learn more about Chris’ original music, please visit: https://chrisswanhiphop.com.

Chris started teaching piano lessons in 2009 after being repeatedly asked by fans who would come to his shows if he could teach them. He quickly found that his method of teaching playing by ear was a lot different from what was being offered to the general public. He then expanded into teaching piano, voice, songwriting, rapping, beat production, and music theory while discovering that his style of teaching really resonated with his students, making learning music a lot of fun! He founded STL Piano Lessons shortly after and hired a great staff of teachers. After building this business with a lot of success, Chris sold it in 2021 to follow his dream of living in New York City!

Chris’ biggest passion is to use music to encourage people to live the life of their dreams - whether that is through teaching or performing.

“I want to help and inspire people through music. If I can help someone accomplish something they have always dreamed of by teaching them piano or singing or beat production or whatever it is, sign me up! A big part of teaching is encouraging my students to dream big and go for those dreams. We all get stuck sometimes in fear and self-doubt. It’s my job as a teacher to remind my students of all the possibilities that are available to them as well as reminding them of how far they have come. That is my favorite part of teaching!”

In 2021, Chris sold his house, his STL Piano Lessons business, and most of his belongings in order to follow his dream of moving to New York City, where he now resides, teaches, and performs. Chris is a Steinway Educational Partner and a member of the Piano Teachers Congress of New York.