Christopher Gainey (b. 1981) did his undergraduate and Master’s level work at the Peabody Conservatory earning degrees in composition, guitar performance and music theory pedagogy. At Peabody he was awarded the Gustav Klemm prize in composition and his Iago for violin solo, which has been published in volume 41 of the SCI Journal of Music Scores and is included on an SCI CD that was released in 2009, won first prize in the 2006 Virginia Carty DeLillo composition competition. 

(picture from 2009 reading session with the Affinity Chamber Players of Seattle, WA, courtesy of Mike Kubik photography)

In 2006, Chris was awarded a commission from the Baltimore Classical Guitar Society to compose Chupacabra for two guitars, which was subsequently published by Vogt&Fritz in Sweinfurt, Germany. His Nantucket Sleighride for orchestra and four guitars has been recorded by the Kiev Philharmonic as part of ERM Media’s “Masterworks of the New Era” series. 

Chris's ballet, No Sleep for the Wicked, was recently staged by the University of Iowa Dance Department, and Dreamless Sleep, an excerpt from the ballet for cello solo was featured at the 2008 SCI student national conference, and the Midwest Graduate Music Consortium. His Flowing Through: Rhapsody on a theme of Egberto Gismonti has been performed multiple times by the San Francisco Guitar Quartet and will be included on their forthcoming CD.  His Spherical for piano and narrator, with poetry by Alan Felsenthal, was recently awarded a 2009 International Music Prize for Excellence in Composition and received a performance in Thessaloniki, Greece.  In January of 2010, Chris will be completing an artist residency with the Corporation of Yaddo.

In May  of 2009, Chris received his Ph. D. in composition from the University of Iowa where he was the recipient of the 2008 Pelzer Prize in Composition as well as a 2009 Seashore Dissertation Grant.  Chris is currently a lecturer in composition at Grinnell College and an adjunct instructor of guitar and composition at Coe College.

Forthcoming performances of Chris's music will be taking place in a number of cities across the U.S.   For a complete listing of these performances please visit the "performances" section of this site.  To hear recordings, and see scores of Chris's music please visit the "compositions" section.  To see examples of Chris's theoretical writings, transcriptions for guitar, and to hear recordings of some of Chris's guitar performances please visit the "other work" section.  Chris would love to hear from you, and his contact information is listed in the "contact info" section of this website.