Christopher J. Keyes

Acclaimed by Fanfare Magazine as “Masterful…a modernized Rachmaninoff” Christopher J. Keyes (b. 1963) began his career as a pianist, winning many competitions and later making his “double-debut” in Carnegie Hall as both soloist and guest composer with the New York Youth Symphony. He began formal composition lessons at the University of California at Santa Barbara, earning a B.M. in Piano Performance and a B.A. in Creative Studies with an emphasis in composition. He continued his musical training at the Eastman School of Music, completing his doctorate in 1992. His major composition teachers include Joseph Schwantner, Samuel Adler, Christopher Rouse, and Robert Morris. Among his numerous awards are the Eastman Szernovsky Award, several ASCAP Grants to Young Composers, and the Rudolf Nissim Award for best orchestral work written by a living ASCAP member. He is also an author of various scholarly articles on subjects including audio engineering, the pedagogy of composition, and music technology.

His compositions have been performed and broadcast in over 35 countries worldwide with works in almost every genre. Since the late 1990s his work has focused on electro-acoustic music, multi-channel audio, and more recently computer graphics as mediums to expand the possibilities of acoustic instruments in concert. He is currently a Professor at Hong Kong Baptist University where he directs the Electro-Acoustic Music Centre and Laboratory for Immersive Arts and Technology. Solo albums and multi-channel DVDs of his music can be heard on the Centaur (CRC 2377), Capstone (CPS-8739), and Ravello (RR7803) labels.