An accomplished composer, Christopher Palestrant’s works and arrangements have been performed from New York City to the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C and throughout the United States. Prizes and awards include the Third Biennial Michael Hennagin Prize, the Turner Classic Movies Young Film Composers’ Competition and the Randolph S. Rothschild prize in composition. His music and writings have also been selected for presentation for the College Music Society national conferences, the Society for Ethnomusicology and the Intercollegiate Music Association. Chris’ compositions include the orchestral works The Wind in His Mane, Caligula and Festival Hebridean as well as numerous chamber pieces, choral music and one-act operas.
His primary teachers in composition include Nicholas Maw, Morris Cotel, Tom Benjamin, Jack Gallagher and Adolphus Hailstork, and master classes with John Corigliano, George Rochberg, Samuel Adler and John Maxwell Geddes. He earned degrees from The College of Wooster, Wooster OH (B.A.); New York University (M.A.) and the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University (M.M. and D.M.A.)
Chris currently teaches composition and music theory at Elizabeth City State University of the University of North Carolina.