Born in Edinburgh, Christopher received most of his musical education at the Royal Academy of Music, where he achieved the unusual distinction of gaining the Academy’s highest performing award — the DipRAM — on both piano and cello. He was elected a Fellow in 1983. In 2002, he received the title of Professor of the University of London.

Christopher was a prize winner in several British and international piano competitions and continued his studies with Maria Curcio-Diamand, playing and broadcasting regularly both as a soloist and in chamber music. At the same time he worked as a freelance cellist with the major London orchestras. During recent years he has also given recitals in the USA, Ireland, Spain, Australia and Vietnam.

He is now in demand for concerts and masterclasses in many parts of the world. He has taught at the Chetham's International Summer School for Pianists for several years and has acted as Artistic Director of the Harrow International Summer School for Pianists, supported by Vladimir Ashkenazy and sponsored by Steinway and Sons.

Many have won international awards, including first prizes in the Van Cliburn and London World International Piano Competitions as well as in Jaen, Newport and Dudley. Further recent successes came in recent finals of the Tchaikovsky, Leeds, Dublin, Shanghai and Munich (ARD) and Taiwan International Competitions well as previous major awards in the international competitions in Santander, Geneva (CIEM), Geza Anda, Leipzig Bach, New Orleans, Pozzoli, Mazaro del Vallo, Porto, Madrid, Ettlingen and the Stravinsky Awards in the USA. Students have also been successful in the prestigious Young Concert Artists award in New York, as well as in the London Young Concert Artists Trust. Many of his students, such as Freddy Kempf, Ashley Wass and Yevgeny Sudbin are now successful recording artists with major contracts.