Christopher Austin

Christopher has given more than eighty world and local premieres in the last decade, including works by John Adams, Simon Bainbridge, Luke Bedford, Tansy Davies, Michael Finnissy, Morgan Hayes, John McCabe, Stuart MacRae, Colin Matthews, Olga Neuwirth, Steve Reich, Poul Ruders, Bent Sørensen, Joby Talbot, Raymond Warren and John Woolrich. More than forty of those premieres have been given with the Brunel Ensemble as Artistic Director and with them and with many other ensembles he has consistently championed the music of Malcolm Williamson and Elisabeth Lutyens in both performance and in recordings.

Christopher has had a long association with music of John McCabe and a disc of McCabe’s orchestral music recorded with the BBC Scottish has been released on Dutton to widespread critical acclaim. His recording of Anders Brødsgaard’s Piano Concerto, with Rolf Hind and the Esbjerg Ensemble, was released on Da Capo records. He recorded a disc of Morten Olsen’s music with the Esbjerg Ensemble in addition to a recording of Brødsgaard’s music with the Odense Symphony Orchestra.

Recent work includes debuts with the Orchestre National de Lille, Orchestra della Teatro Regio Parma, the Danubia Symphony Orchestra and at the Aldeburgh Festival. Christopher returns to the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, RTÉ Concert Orchestra and the Esbjerg Ensemble, as part of Sound Around, the Øresund Biennale of Contemporary Music in Copenhagen. Other work includes the London Sinfonietta, Composers’ Ensemble, The Philharmonia, BBC Symphony, Royal Philharmonic, Hallé and BBC Concert Orchestras, Present Music (New York), Athelas Sinfonietta Copenhagen, the Danish Radio Sinfonietta, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra and the English Symphony Orchestra.
He has also collaborated with John Cale, Michael Nyman and the rock group The Divine Comedy.

In great demand as an orchestrator for film, recent projects include two Ivor Novello Award winning scores - Dan Jones’s score for Max and Jeremy Sams’ for Enduring Love. His long-standing collaboration with Joby Talbot includes scores for Son of Rambow, Arctic Tale, Penelope, The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and Aluminium, an album of White Stripes orchestral covers.

Christopher was educated at the University of Bristol, studying composition with Raymond Warren and Adrian Beaumont, and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where he was taught by Robert Saxton and Simon Bainbridge. He teaches composition, orchestration and conducting at the Academy.