Chris Carmichael is a musician and arranger born in San Antonio, Texas on July 6, 1962. The son of an Air Force fighter pilot, he moved extensively before taking up the violin while living in Hampton, Virginia. After moving to Bowling Green, Kentucky in 1975, he entered into more formal training - studying violin with Western Kentucky University professor Betty Pease (a former student of Ivan Galamian) for eight years. While in the university environment, he also studied music theory, composition, orchestral and chamber performance under teachers; Dr. David Livingston (a former student of composer Roy Harris), Vsevolod Lezhnev, (principal cellist with the Moscow Philharmonic and Pittsburgh Symphony orchestras) and Leon Gregorian (head of Michigan State University's conducting program).