Christian Billian studied classical guitar, musical theory, and composition at the Musikhochschule (Academy of Music) in Freiburg. Since 1999 he has been performing as a member of the improvisation trio frissons, winning first prize with them at the international competition Für Junge Kultur (“For young culture”) in Düsseldorf.
In 2001 he was invited to the 6th Nachwuchsforum der Gesellschaft für Neue Musik und des Ensemble Modern (6th forum for up-and-coming artists hosted by the Society for Modern Music and the Ensemble Modern). In 2003 the Deutschland Radio Berlin broadcast a radio portrait of his work as a composer and improvisation musician. That same year he was commissioned for a composition by the Staatsgalerie (State Art Gallery) in Stuttgart.
Starting in 2004 he has been receiving a Baden-Württemberg state scholarship for a research project entitled “Teaching modern music in instrumental classes for beginners.” He also carried out an improvisation project with elementary school classes from Herford/Bielefeld as part of the initiative Künstler an Schulen (“Artists in schools”). In 2005 he was awarded a work scholarship by the Akademie der Künste in Berlin, at the same time receiving a commission to compose a piece for the Kammerensemble Neue Musik in Berlin.
He is particularly interested in the close cooperation of composers, performers, as well as the attitudes/working methods of improvised music. His works have been performed by the Ensemble Modern, the Ensemble Mosaik, and the Ensemble Chronophonie.