Christopher Best - Submitted 2004
Christopher Best studied composition under Edward Cowie (Lancaster), Hugh Wood (Cambridge) and Nigel Osborne (Nottingham). He now divides his time between freelance composition and lecturing in music at Dartington College in Devon.
Much of his work has been in collaboration with choreographers and dance companies, such as Scottish Dance Theatre, Jamaican National Dance, Kaleidoscope Dance Project and Bimba Dance Theatre. This has led in turn to related education work in cross-media collaboration; directing the Composers/Choreographers Exchanges in London in 1998 and 2000, and in Madrid, 2001 and 2002. He has also contributed articles to Dance Theatre Journal and Animated Magazine.
He is also re-establishing himself as a concert composer, now much refreshed from the experiences of working with dance. The SPNM invited him to submit a work for the 1997 Spitalfields Festival, piano music was selected by the reading panel in 1998 and in 1999 he wrote an orchestral piece for 'Kokoro'. Since 2000 he has become increasingly interested in site-specific work.
In addition to 'How Great, How Fall'n', recent compositions include 'Dolya Nash Krai' for the unusual combination of voices, electric guitar and Balinese Gamelan ensemble and a 60 minute CD 'Waking Dance'.