Christopher Theofanidis

Theofanidis holds degrees from Yale 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 Award for Best Contemporary Classical Composition for his chorus and orchestra work, The Here and Now, based on the poetry of Rumi. His Bassoon Concerto was nominated in 2017. Theofanidis composed the ballet Artemis, which was premiered on May 20, 2003, by the American Ballet Theatre with choreography by Lar Lubovitch. He also wrote the orchestral work Muse for the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra (as part of their "New Brandenburg" series), which they premiered on December 1, 2007 at Carnegie Hall. His opera Heart of a Soldier, concerning 9/11, was premiered on September 10, 2011, by the San Francisco Opera in a production designed by Francesca Zambello. His opera/dramatic oratorio The Refuge, with a libretto by Leah Lax, was staged and premiered by the Houston Grand Opera on November 11, 2007. He has a long-standing relationship with the Atlanta Symphony, and his Symphony No. 1 was premiered by that orchestra on April 2, 2009, and recorded. 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. Since 2008, he has been on the faculty at the Yale School of Music.

• 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 • Chamber music — 1994 — Kaoru — for flutes 22 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 — Cows of ApolloThe Cows of Apollo or The Invention of Music • Orchestral — 2002 — Peace, Love, Light YOUMEONE — for string orchestra • Opera — 2002 — Thirteen ClocksThe Thirteen Clocks — in 2 acts; libretto by Peter Webster based on the story by James Thurber • Ballet — 2003 — Artemis • Concertante — 2002 — Concerto — for viola and chamber orchestra — commissioned by the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra for Kim Kashkashian; recording by Richard O’Neill with David Alan Miller conducting the Albany Symphony, winner of the 2021 Grammy Award for Best Classical Instrumental Solo • Band — 2005 — I Wander the World in a Dream of My Own Making — for wind ensemble • Choral — 2005 — Here and NowThe Here and Now — for soloists, chorus, and orchestra — commissioned by the Atlanta Symphony and Chorus • Chamber music — 2006 — World Is AflameThe World Is Aflame — for violin and cello • Concertante — 2006 — Concerto [No. 1] — 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 — RefugeThe 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 • Chamber music — 2012 — Allegory of the Cave — for string quartet and piano • Piano — 2012 — Birichino (Italian: prankster) — for piano — 7 minutes long commissioned by the 2013 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition for the 12 semifinal round performers; released on March 15, 2013 • Concertante — 2013 — Concerto — for marimba and wind sinfonietta • Chamber music — 2013 — Quasi una Fantasia — for clarinets 22 clarinets and string quartet (or string orchestra) • Orchestral — 2013 — Wind and Petit JeanThe Wind and Petit Jean — for orchestra • Choral — 2013 — GiftThe Gift — for tenor, chorus, and orchestra — commissioned by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra • Chamber music — 2013 — At the Still Point — for piano quintet • Chamber music — 2014 — Artemis — for horn, string quintet, and keyboard • Chamber music — 2014 — Five — for string quartet • Orchestral — 2014 — Legend of the Northern LightsThe Legend of the Northern Lights — for narrator, child actor and orchestra (with film) • Choral — 2015 — Creation/Creator — for soloists, chorus, and orchestra — commissioned by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra • Orchestral — 2015 — Dreamtime Ancestors — for orchestra • Orchestral — 2015 — Making Up for Lost Time — for orchestra • Orchestral — 2015 — Thousand CranesA Thousand Cranes — for string orchestra and harp • Chamber music — 2016 — Airs and Dances — for oboes2 oboes, English horn, 2 bassoons, and percussionist • Choral — 2016 — Four Levertov Settings — for chorus and solo violin — words by Denise Levertov • Orchestral — 2016 — Summer Music — for orchestra — Commissioned by the Williamsport Symphony for their 50th anniversary • Chamber music — 2017 — Conference of the BirdsThe Conference of the Birds — for string quartet • Chamber music — 2017 — Four Dreams — for string quartet — commissioned by Apollo Chamber Players • Orchestral — 2017 — GameThe Game — for orchestra — Commissioned by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra • Chamber music — 2017 — Lakshmi and the Seed of Divine Desire — for flute and piano • Chamber music — 2017 — One Thing at a Time, 6 Etude Miniatures — for flute solo • Chamber music — 2017 — What Is the Word? — for string quartet and electronics — co-written with Mark Wingate; commissioned by the Apollo Chamber Players; words by Samuel Beckett • Concertante — 2018 — Concerto No. 2 — for piano and string orchestra, harp, percussion • Chamber music — 2019 — Discipline and Transcendence — for violin solo — written for the Elmar Oliveira International Violin Competition 2020 • Concertante — 2019 — Drum Circles — for percussion quartet and orchestra • Band — 2019 — Off the Clock — for concert band • Chamber music — 2019 — Quintet — for clarinet and string quartet • Orchestral — 2020 — On the Bridge of the Eternal — for orchestra — Written for the University of Colorado Boulder centennial

• 2017 Grammy nomination for Bassoon Concerto • 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 • Joseph H. Bearns Prize