Composer Bio

Throughout his body of work, composer Theo Chandler explores music’s profound and mysterious capacity to depict sensations, images, and human experience. His recent compositions have become increasingly more personal and vulnerable, motivated by a passion for creating emotional and spiritual openings for his audience. Chandler’s aesthetic interweaves inventive orchestral effects with rich melodic lines. His work has been recognized for its “stunning, musically sophisticated combination of simplicity and complexity suffused with deep emotion.” (Paper City Magazine)

Chandler has received recognition from numerous artistic institutions. He is a recipient of the Barlow Endowment General Commission, Copland House Residency Award, SCI/ASCAP Graduate Commission, American Prize for Vocal Chamber Music, Lili Boulanger Memorial Fund Award, Charles Ives Scholarship from the Academy of Arts and Letters, and the Graduate Music Award from the Presser Foundation. Chandler has received commissions from the New York Youth Symphony First Music Program, Tanglewood Music Center, Maryland Chamber Winds, Utah Arts Festival, and others. His works have premiered at Carnegie Hall Stern Auditorium, Alice Tully Hall, Seiji Ozawa Hall, and the Kennedy Center.

Highly regarded for his innovative idiomatic writing for instruments and voices, Chandler crafts works that are both rewarding and challenging for his collaborators. His concertos have been praised for their “nuanced  narratives that underscore the true meaning of virtuosity.”(Cleveland Classical) It is this attention to the experience of the performer that has allowed him to work with world-class ensembles and musicians, including Akropolis Reed Quintet, the Fischer Duo, Kinetic String Orchestra, Les Delices, Amir Eldan, Richard Hawkins, and members of the Cleveland Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Detroit Symphony, Houston Symphony, Stockholm Philharmonic, Minnesota Orchestra, and Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra. His most celebrated works for soloists include: Beyond the Sanctuary Walls, Oboe Concerto, Nonsense Passacaglia, Songs from Brooches, Moods In The Waning Hours, Two Taylor Songs, Summersongs, and Trailing Wings.

Chandler’s work has allowed him to hold fellowships and residencies across the United States and internationally, including the I-Park Foundation, Copland House, Helene Wurlitzer Foundation, Cabrillo Festival Composers Workshop, SongFest-Sorel Composer Mentorship Program, Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme, Avaloch Farm Music Institute, Mizzou International Composers Festival, Tanglewood Music Center, Copland House Cultivate, and Aspen Music Festival. He has been the Composer in Residence for the Maryland Wind Festival, Young Artist Composer for Da Camera, Emerging Composer Fellow for Musiqa, Composer in Residence for Les Délices, Young Composer in Residence for the Detroit Chamber Winds and Strings.

Chandler’s most prolific collaborative partnership has been with interdisciplinary artist Lydia Hwang. Together, they have co-created multimedia works, combining contemporary classical music with dramatic storytelling and animation. So You May Breathe In Light - a chamber opera featuring their libretto and video projections - received its premiere in May 2025 in collaboration with Loop38. Since its premiere, the opera has been recognized as a finalist for the American Opera Association’s Dominick Argento Chamber Opera Competition. Their other collaborations in the contemporary music field include: Time Pieces, Beyond the Sanctuary Walls, and A Cry of Flames.

Chandler holds composition degrees from Rice University (DMA 2021), The Juilliard School (MM 2017), and Oberlin Conservatory (BM 2015), receiving multiple awards at each institution. His composition teachers include Pierre Jalbert, Shih-Hui Chen, Karim Al-Zand, Anthony Brandt, Melinda Wagner, Samuel Adler, Steven Stucky, Lewis Nielson, and Dan Tacke.

Since June 2020, Chandler has worked with the Houston Symphony under the title Livestream Score Director, designing and producing the cinematography for the Houston Symphony’s livestreams.

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