Theo Chandler
Present
Theo Chandler is a Houston-based composer of concert music and stage works. His music finds inspiration in the nuances of instrumental idiom, as well as the dramatic potential of soloistic outpourings within ensemble settings. Chandler is a recipient of the 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, Utah Arts Festival, Les Délices, Maryland Chamber Winds, and others. He was selected as a winner of Juilliard’s Orchestra Competition, Juilliard’s Gena Raps Competition, the New Juilliard Ensemble Competition, the Maryland Wind Festival Call for Scores, and was runner up for the Red Note New Music Festival Chamber Music Competition.
Chandler has been a fellow at the Cabrillo Festival Composers Workshop, Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme, 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, and participated in the I-Park Composer + Musicians Collaborative Residency with Akropolis Reed Quintet.
Chandler holds degrees from Rice University (DMA), The Juilliard School (MM), and Oberlin Conservatory (BM). 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.