Chris Votek
Biography Chris Votek
Chris Votek
Votek’s fluency in musical languages from North Indian classical, Arabic, electronica, jazz, ambient, Western classical to pop, makes him highly sought after as a performer, composer, arranger, recording artist, producer and sound engineer. A disciple of the legendary Indian violinist Dr. N. Rajam, Votek is one of the few cellists in the world performing the rare Gayaki-Ang style Hindustani Raga.
Recent highlights include arranging music with Dhillon for Rhythm Spirits, a collaboration between Ustad Zakir Hussain, Kala Ramnath, and the San Francisco Symphony. His compositions have been performed at REDCAT, the Hammer Museum, Clockshop, and the San Francisco Symphony’s experimental late-night concert series SF Soundbox. Votek has toured 4 continents with acclaimed songwriter Julia Holter and performed at the Royal Opera House Muscat as principal cellist of Nabil Azzam’s Arabic orchestra MESTO. As a touring and studio cellist, Votek has worked with Chris Martin, Father John Misty, Wild Up, Bridge to Everywhere, Kamasi Washington, The Dirty Projectors, Amanda Palmer, The Marias, and Homayoun Shajarian among others. He recently performed with the Silk Road Ensemble at the Smithsonian Institution with Persian singer Mamak Khadem.
With a discography of close to 100 recordings, 20 film and TV scores, composer and producer of 7 short film scores and one feature length documentary score, Memories of a Shadow marks Votek’s first title dedicated to his original music. Votek can also be heard on the 2021 Grammy nominated album Cinema by The Marias, and on Khadem’s newest album, Remembrance, performing with Chris Martin of Coldplay, an album on which Votek also served as co-producer and arranger.
