Kynance Cove, Cornwall

Christopher Best - composer

...unique sonorities and an engaging sound world...

William Sleath, flautist, after commissioning 'Fragilities'
Christopher Best pre concert talk

The composer delivering a pre-concert talk on 'How Great, How Fall'n', Valletta, Malta. Photo courtesy of Mariella Cassar

Welcome to ChrisBestMusic.com. On this site you can listen to extracts of Chris's music, download scores and recordings and keep up to date with his current activities.

Chris is always keen to discuss creative projects, commissions or performances of his work. It is the life-blood of any composer to be writing and to be heard. If you are a performer, conductor, choreographer, visual artist or director etc looking for fresh musical dimensions, then please make contact.

...proof that contemporary music can succeed on all fronts; it required concentration but was also exhilarating....

Artistic Director SPNM

Courageous in its simplicity and deserves to be heard...

Sound and Music reading panel
Chris Best

Photo courtesy of Maryam Best

More information

Christopher Best is a freelance composer based in the South West of England writing mostly concert, stage and acousmatic music. Groups to have commissioned him include the Fisarchi Ensemble of Florence, the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra, Emilyn Claid & Co., Scottish Dance Theatre, Bimba Dance Theatre and Jamaican National Dance. Works have also been written for ensembles such as Aquarius, Jane's Minstrels, Kokoro, the choir of Selwyn College Cambridge and Onyx Brass.

In making new work, Chris places particular emphasis on collaborating with performers and is grateful for having had the opportunity to do so with such distinguished musicians as accordionist Miloš Milivojević, cellist Rohan de Saram, flautist William Sleath, harpist Ruth Wall, guitarist Matthew Marshall and organist Daniel Moult. His music has received widespread critical acclaim and been performed and broadcast internationally.

Since 2010 Chris has held a senior lectureship at Falmouth University, having formerly been Reader in music composition at Dartington College of Arts in Devon. He has taught extensively throughout the UK and abroad, and co-directed residential music and dance exchanges in Devon, London and Madrid.

Recent output includes; Clarion Song' for trumpet and organ; 'Odes and Episodes' and 'Echoes of a Lost Music', both for electric guitar; 'They Fall, They Dance' for flute and string quartet; 'Scending' for flutes and accordion and 'Fragilities' for flutes and cello (for a more comprehensive list of compositions please refer to the 'Works' page).

News
February 2023: Worlds Five has now been released. This is the last in my series of extended works designed for deep listening and mindfulness. Where Worlds One, Two and Four are largely reflective in...
News
Worlds Four cover art
April 2022: Worlds Four has now been released on YouTube and Soundcloud. As a counterweight to the intensity of Worlds Three, this work is profoundly meditative and static. At a time of international...
News
The composer with trumpeter Alan Thomas at St Bride's
March 2022: Music of our Time. March 23rd saw the long-awaited première of my piece Clarion Song for trumpet and organ, wonderfully played by Alan Thomas, lead trumpeter of Onyx Brass, and organist...
Poster for the dance piece 'Twilight Tempest' courtesy Indra Thiagarajah

Jamaican Dance Co. Twilight Tempest poster. Image courtesy of Indra Thiagarajah

 ...a mature and powerful work, able to portray the dark shadows of loss that can unexpectedly creep into even the most joyful moments in life...

Dance Europe - music for 'Playfall', Scottish Dance Theatre

 This is lovely music for dance, and it develops in a delightful way.

Composer Howard Skempton - music for 'Caught Up', Suits U2 Dance Co.