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, which interweaves inventive orchestral effects with rich melodic lines, 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. Upcoming performances include the New York premiere of his Oboe Concerto at Alice Tully Hall and the premiere of his opera So You May Breathe In Light in Houston, TX.
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 Copland House, Cabrillo Festival Composers Workshop, Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme, Mizzou International Composers Festival, Tanglewood Music Center, Copland House Cultivate, Aspen Music Festival, Helene Wurlitzer Foundation, and I-Park. 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 chooses to live a life of creative abundance, a guiding principle that has led him to explore artistic outlets beyond composing. He writes poetry, produces podcasts, and creates 3D digital art, all of which influence his perspective on music. 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. The flexibility of Chandler’s compositional craft has has allowed him to carry out a variety of outreach projects, including two opera-writing workshops: “I Am My Future” in collaboration with Harris County Youth Detention Center and Da Camera Young Artist Program, and Houston Grand Opera’s “Create an Opera” summer camp.
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.