Trumpet and Conch Shell Player - Remote Recording Studio and Live Playing
- Don Chilton - Trumpet and Conch Shell Player
Video and Film Releases
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News Highlights
Survivor 51
Survivor: Season 51 premiers September 23, 2026 and airs Wednesday's on CBS.
Watch on CBS and Paramount+. Don Chilton's conch shell horns can be heard on each episode in collaboration with award winning composer, Matt Koskenmaki.
Row of Life - Documentary
Row of Life is now streaming on Prime Video, Apple TV and YouTube. It made its world premiere at the Santa Barbra International Film Festival on February 9, 2025.
This full-length documentary and original soundtrack features Don Chilton's conch shell playing collaborative work with LA based film composer, James Newberry.
Conch Shell Reverie - New Release
Conch Shell Reverie by Don Chilton and Aric Attas is a musical exploration and tribute to the majestic Queen Conch of the Caribbean Sea. Don and Aric’s collaboration was born out of a shared musical connection with nature. Don Chilton performs his haunting and meditative melodies using six different conch shell trumpets. All floating amidst Aric Attas’ ambient soundscapes and underwater recordings of grazing conch and waves as heard from the perspective of the beautiful Queen Conch.
Our goal is to raise awareness and support the efforts to replenish the vital queen conch population.
Audiobook Release - Welcome to the Absolutely Astounding Life of Whistle Evel Fonzarelli Starr.
The long awaited audiobook is now available at your favorite online bookstore.
Don Chilton worked with author Shane Hopkins and Jay Parker to record his conch shells, didgeridoo and trumpet for select chapters of the audiobook soundtrack.
Watch the interview to learn more about the awesome project.
Our Story: The Queen Conch Lab
For 50 years, Dr. Megan Davis has studied the queen conch life cycle and innovated ways to save the species. Dr. Megan Davis and the team at the Florida Atlantic University Harbor Branch's Queen Conch Lab share their vision of a conch farm in every Caribbean nation to help with region-wide restoration and conservation.
Don Chilton and Aric Attas are special musical guests. Their musical collaboration and video are featured at the lecture.
Queen Conch Hatchery Documentary
“To safeguard the conch is to preserve the symphony of the ocean. A symphony where each note, each creature contributes to the greater harmony.” - Queen of the Seas: a Queen Conch Hatchery Documentary.
The Queen Conch Hatchery documentary is a 32-minute educational video about the important work being done to help save the Queen Conch population.
The film features Don Chilton's composition "Seashell Serenade" and includes a cameo performance and professional recognition.
Where the Crawdads Sing
The sound of Don Chilton's conch shell music is featured throughout the motion picture soundtrack of Reese Witherspoon's production of Where the Crawdads Sing composed by Oscar and Golden Globe winning film score composer Mychael Danna.
PETRICHOR ((whomp whomp))
Don Chilton's conch shell and didgeridoo music is featured along with several other local Rhode Island artists in Molly Sexton's Exhibition: PETRICHOR ((whomp whomp)). The exhibition premiered on November 4, 2022. A number of the pieces are still on view at Blink Gallery in Newport, RI.
Molly continues to create these beautiful works as a part of the original series. They can be seen at her Miracle Stone Studio at the LaFarge Arts Center located at the Newport Congregational Church in Newport, Rhode Island.
Molly’s exhibition is a visual and auditory immersive experience. The exhibit includes works of acrylic paint on reclaimed 1880's slate roof tiles and the "Whomp Machine," a sound installation within one of her images on canvas.
DON CHILTON is a professional trumpeter, multi-instrumentalist, and globally recognized conch shell soloist based in Newport, Rhode Island. Following a distinguished 26-year career as a U.S. Navy trumpet instrumentalist, Don maintains an active freelance schedule across New England. He has performed at the iconic Newport Jazz Festival and has shared stages with world-class legendary artists; including, The Temptations, William Cepeda, James Montgomery, Brooke Shields, and Greg Abate. Beyond live venues, he is a sought-after remote session artist, lending his unique, cinematic conch shell arrangements to major film scores such as Where the Crawdads Sing, Netflix’s Vikings: Valhalla, and the hit series Survivor. When he isn’t recording from his home studio or directing the Larry Brown Swinglane Orchestra, Don shares his lifelong passion for music as the band director and general music teacher at Thompson Middle School.