CHRIS KAPICA is a composer, performer, and educator who straddles the line between the classical and popular music worlds.
Originally from Carmel, NY, he studied composition at The Juilliard School, where he earned Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees as a student of Grammy- and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Christopher Rouse. Chris discovered a passion for teaching as an ear training instructor for Juilliard’s college and pre-college divisions from 2007 to 2010.
Since then, Chris has written works for orchestra, dance, theater, television, and advertising and toured the country as a bassist. His music has appeared in Cirque du Soleil, the TV network VICELAND, the New York Philharmonic’s inaugural Biennial Festival, Carnegie Hall’s Neighborhood Concert Series, and the Albany Symphony’s American Music Festival. Steve Smith of the New York Times wrote that Chris’s musical offerings in Juice Box Hero, his 2010 oratorio about the last day of kindergarten, were “deployed with sure instincts and dramatic flair.” Chris also received a 2009 ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Award for his choreographed work for mixed ensemble, Flak, for which he played electric guitar.
Chris is now releasing progressive industrial music available on all platforms under the pseudonym FauxFriend.
Chris has performed with artists such as Jon Batiste and Robby Krieger (The Doors) and in groups who have opened for acts like the Allman Brothers Band, Neil Young, Heart, the Black Keys, the Neville Brothers, McCoy Tyner, the Raconteurs, Buddy Guy, and Esperanza Spalding.
A devoted teacher, Chris aims to equip aspiring artists with the musicianship skills, expressive tools, technological fluency, and business savvy necessary to thrive in the ever-changing music industry. He served as the Dean and Chief Academic Officer of California College of Music from 2019-2024 and now teaches songwriting at The Archer School for Girls. His first book, Chordcraft: A Workbook of Popular Music Harmony, is one of CCM’s required music theory texts.
Chris lives in Los Angeles with his wife Nina, cat Cécile, and diverse collection of colorful socks.