Throughout his body of work, composer Theo Chandler explores music’s profound and mysterious capacity to convey sensations, images, and personal 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 Kinetic String Orchestra, Musiqa, New York Youth Symphony First Music Program, Tanglewood Music Center, Utah Arts Festival, and others. 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, Helene Wurlitzer Foundation, and I-Park.
Chandler holds composition degrees from Rice University (DMA 2021), The Juilliard School (MM 2017), and Oberlin Conservatory (BM 2015).