Christopher Swist, born into a musical family, began playing
the drum set at age 4. He stayed in his hometown for a B.M.
in performance from SUNY-Buffalo. While at U.B. he won the
1996 Baird Concerto Competition and had his early marimba
compositions published by Studio 4 Music. Christopher moved
to New England in 1997 where he received his M.M. in
performance from The Hartt School. He followed this with a
second M.M. in composition from Hartt. Mr. Swist is the
principal percussionist of the New Britain Symphony and
performs in the percussion sections of the Ridgefield and
Waterbury Symphonies. He has also played with: New Haven
Symphony, Eastern Connecticut Symphony, Norwalk Symphony,
Bridgeport Symphony, Opera Theater of Connecticut, New
Britain Opera and other groups throughout New England. He
has collaborated with several modern dance organizations
including: Full Force Dance Theater, The Wellspring Project,
Connecticut Choreographers Forum, and Dance Connecticut. His
first CD “Whitewater” was released in 2001 and was
funded through the Yvar Mikhashoff Trust for New Music. In
2005, the OSUNCuyo of Mendoza, Argentina premiered his
orchestral score “Inversions.” Christopher has taught
percussion, theory and composition at Keene State College
since 2003. He also is on faculty at Holyoke Community
College and the Hartt School Community Division. He taught
at Bennington College from 1998-2002.