Professor Crist has been a member of the Dana School of Music faculty since 1983. His responsibilities at Dana include applied trombone, assistant band director and numerous classes. Prior to Youngstown State, Mr. Crist taught public school in upstate New York. Mr. Crist's degrees include a B.M. and B.M.E. from Ithaca College, New York and M.M. in trombone performance from Youngstown State University. Mr. Crist received a Ph.D. in music education from Kent State University in 1998.
His trombone teachers include; Frank Brown, William Harris, Bruce Burritt, Charles Dalkert, Allen Ostrander, Vern Kagarice and James Desano. Mr. Crist is principal trombone with the Youngstown Symphony and Warren Chamber Orchestra. He has also performed with the Tri- Cities Opera, Binghamton Symphony, Broome County (NY) Pops Orchestra and the Cleveland Opera Orchestra. Mr. Crist is a member of the Dana Faculty Brass Quintet, which recently released the Quintet's first CD, Apocalypse. Mr. Crist recently released his own CD, What to Do.