Christopher Cerrone

Christopher Cerrone (b. 1984) is internationally acclaimed for compositions characterized by a subtle handling of timbre and resonance, a deep literary fluency, and a flair for multimedia collaborations. Recent works include Beaufort Scales, an oratorio commissioned by Lorelei Ensemble; In a Grove, an opera co-produced by LA Opera and Pittsburgh Opera whose studio recording was named one of the best of 2023 by The New York Times; Breaks and Breaks, a violin concerto for Jennifer Koh and the Detroit Symphony; A Body, Moving, a brass concerto for the Cincinnati Symphony; The Year of Silence for the Louisville Symphony and baritone Dashon Burton; The Air Suspended, a piano concerto for Shai Wosner; and The Insects Became Magnetic for the LA Philharmonic. His first opera, Invisible Cities, was a 2014 Pulitzer Prize finalist. Cerrone is a triple-GRAMMY nominee, with nominations for The Pieces that Fall to Earth, The Arching Path, and Beaufort Scales. He won the 2015–2016 Samuel Barber Rome Prize and was a resident at the Laurenz Haus Foundation in Basel, Switzerland from 2022–2023. Christopher Cerrone holds degrees from Yale and the Manhattan School of Music. He is published by Schott NY and Project Schott New York, and joined the composition faculty at Mannes School of Music at The New School in 2021. He lives in Jersey City with his wife.