Quick Facts
SagittariusBiography
Christopher Theofanidis (born December 18, 1967, in Dallas, Texas) is an American composer whose works have been performed by leading orchestras from around the world, including the London Symphony, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Moscow Soloists, the National, Atlanta, Baltimore, St. Louis, Detroit, and many others. He participated in the Young American Composer-in-Residence Program with Barry Jekowsky and the California Symphony from 1994 to 1996 and, more recently, served as Composer of the Year for the Pittsburgh Symphony during their 2006–2007 Season, for which he wrote a violin concerto for Sarah Chang.
Career
Theofanidis holds degrees fromYale University, the Eastman School of Music, and the University of Houston, and has been the recipient of the International Masterprize (hosted at the Barbican Centre in London), the Rome Prize, a Guggenheim Fellowship, six ASCAP Gould Prizes, a Fulbright Fellowship to France, a Tanglewood Fellowship, and the American Academy of Arts and Letters' Charles Ives Fellowship. In 2007 he was nominated for a Grammy for best composition for his chorus and orchestra work, The Here and Now, based on the poetry of Rumi.
Theofanidis' has recently written a ballet for the American Ballet Theatre, a work for the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra as part of their "New Brandenburg" series, and he currently has two opera commissions for the San Francisco and Houston Grand Opera companies. He has a long-standing relationship with the Atlanta Symphony, and has just had his first symphony premiered and recorded with that orchestra. He has served as a delegate to the U.S.–Japan Foundation's Leadership Program and is a former faculty member of the Peabody Conservatory and the Juilliard School. He currently teaches at the Yale School of Music.
Awards
- 2016 A.I. du Pont Composer's Award
- 2007 Grammy nomination for The Here and Now
- 2003 Masterprize for Rainbow Body
- 1999 Rome Prize
- 1996 Guggenheim Fellowship
- 1996 Barlow Prize
- six ASCAP Morton Gould Prizes
- Fulbright Fellowship to France
- Tanglewood Fellowship
- Charles Ives Fellowship, by The American Academy of Arts and Letters
Selected compositions
| Genre | Date | Title | Instrumentation | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chamber music | 1992 | Raga | for flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano and 2 percussion | written for the Eastman Musica Nova |
| Piano | 1992 | Statues | for piano solo | |
| Chamber music | 1994 | Kaoru | for 2 flutes | written for Kaoru Hinata and Christopher Vaneman |
| Concertante | 1995 | Concerto | for alto saxophone and orchestra | |
| Orchestral | 1995 | This Dream, Strange and Moving | for orchestra | |
| Chamber music | 1995 | Ariel Ascending | for string quartet | |
| Orchestral | 1996 | Metaphysica | for orchestra | |
| Orchestral | 1996 | As Dancing Is to Architecture | for orchestra | commissioned by the California Symphony |
| Chamber music | 1997 | Visions and Miracles | for string quartet | |
| Chamber music | 1997 | Flow, My Tears | for violin, viola, or cello solo | written for Carol Rodland in memory of Jacob Druckman |
| Orchestral | 1998 | Flourishes | for orchestra | |
| Vocal | 1999 | Song of Elos | for soprano, string quartet and piano | |
| Chamber music | 1999 | O Vis Aeternitatis | for string quartet and piano | commissioned by the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival for Speculum Musicae |
| Orchestral | 2000 | Rainbow Body | for orchestra | |
| Concertante | 1997–2002 | Concerto | for bassoon and chamber orchestra | commissioned by the Absolute Ensemble for Martin Kuuskmann |
| Opera | 2001 | The Cows of Apollo or The Invention of Music | ||
| Concertante | 2002 | Lightning, with Life, in Four Colors Comes Down | for viola and chamber orchestra | |
| Orchestral | 2002 | Peace, Love, Light YOUMEONE | for string orchestra | |
| Opera | 2002 | The Thirteen Clocks | in 2 acts; libretto by Peter Webster based on the story by James Thurber | |
| Ballet | 2003 | Artemis | ||
| Concertante | 2003 | Concerto | for viola and chamber orchestra | commissioned by the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra for Kim Kashkashian |
| Band | 2005 | I Wander the World in a Dream of My Own Making | for wind ensemble | |
| Choral | 2005 | The Here and Now | for soloists, chorus, and orchestra | commissioned by the Atlanta Symphony and Chorus |
| Chamber music | 2006 | The World Is Aflame | for violin and cello | |
| Concertante | 2006 | Concerto | for piano and chamber orchestra | commissioned by Pro Musica Columbus for Donald Berman |
| Piano | 2007 | All Dreams Begin with the Horizon | for piano | commissioned by Meet the Composer for Tanya Bannister |
| Choral | 2007 | The Refuge | for soloists, chorus, orchestra, and several non-Western ensembles | |
| Orchestral | 2007 | Muse | for strings and harpsichord | commissioned by the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra |
| Chamber music | 2008, 2009 | Fantasy | for violin and piano | chamber version of movement II of the Violin Concerto |
| Concertante | 2008 | Concerto | for violin and orchestra | commissioned by the Pittsburgh Symphony for Sarah Chang |
| Chamber music | 2009 | Summer Verses | for violin and cello | |
| Orchestral | 2009 | Symphony No. 1 | for orchestra | commissioned by Robert Spano for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra |
| Concertante | 2009 | Concerto | for cello and orchestra | commissioned by and written for Nina Kotova |
| Orchestral | 2010 | Une Certaine joie de vivre | for orchestra | |
| Opera | 2011 | Heart of a Soldier | for San Francisco Opera | |
| Piano | 2012 | Birichino (Italian: prankster) | for solo piano | 7 minutes long commissioned by the 2013 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition for the 12 semifinal round performers; released on March 15, 2013 |
| Orchestral | 2015 | Dreamtime Ancestors | for orchestra | |
| Choral | 2015 | Creation/Creator | for soloists, chorus, and orchestra | commissioned by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra |
| Chamber music | 2017 | Four Dreams | for string quartet | commissioned by Apollo Chamber Players |