About Christopher Shultis
Christopher Shultis is Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of New Mexico where he taught percussion, composition and musicology. He also served as Regents’ Professor of Music and in 2010 gave the 55th Annual Research Lecture: “the highest award UNM bestows upon its faculty members.” He was awarded two Fulbrights to Germany: the first at the Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen (1993-94) and the second at the Universität Heidelberg (1999-2000). Shultis now divides his time between composition and writing and his scholarly work on John Cage is internationally recognized. His work as a creative artist and scholar frequently draws on his past as an orchestral and solo percussionist and conductor of the University of New Mexico Percussion Ensemble, working closely with many composers including Lou Harrison, Konrad Boehmer, John Cage, Michael Colgrass, James Tenney and Christian Wolff—the latter two writing music dedicated to the ensemble. As a composer, Shultis originally wrote experimentally conceptual pieces often performed by himself (published as a book by the American Composers Alliance), many of which have been newly recorded by the LINKS ensemble and Crossing 32nd Street for a recently released Neuma CD: An Ilusion of Desire: Experimental Music by Christopher Shultis. A shift to fully-notated work occurred in the mid-1990s and a CD of music composed from 1995-2009, Devisadero: Music from the New Mexico Wilderness, is available through Navona records. By nature (literally) an experimental composer, inspiration now comes from long walks in mountains and woods. A member since 2010, all of Shultis's music is available through the American Composers Alliance and he records exclusively for Neuma records.