BIOGRAPHY

​Chris Dorner (b. 2004), is a composer who proudly represents the intersection of being a first-generation college student, the LGBTQ community, and Panamanian-Americans. Chris is currently a student at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas, pursuing degrees in Music Education and Music Composition—studying under Robert K. Mueller, Jeremy Lynn Allen, and Rick Salonen. During High School, Chris was a well-accomplished musician, being part of four music ensembles, being an all-region and all-state musician, as well as having the opportunity to perform with the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas (SoNA). At the U of A, Chris is involved in the Razorback Marching Band, Razorback Chorus, Wind Symphony, and Community Horn Choir, and a member of the Horn Studio under Katey J. Halbert. Chris is also a member of the American Society of Composers and Publishers (ASCAP), the International Horn Society (IHS), the National Association for Music Education (NAfME), and the Young Composers Community (YCC). Around the age of 12, Chris explored composition by initially transcribing his favorite metal songs. Within five years, Chris has self-published numerous pieces, all in various styles of music from classical, jazz, world music, to contemporary classical. Chris has been a selected composer for the 2019 Aspiring Artists of Texas (AATX) Call for Scores, the 2021 Evan Erickson Call for Scores, an awarded winner of the 2022 Penn State Ballora-Wang Young Composers Competition, as well as being a virtual presenter for his music at the 6th-annual Research On Contemporary Composition (ROCC) Music Festival, at the University of North Georgia.