LIFE EVENTS
Christopher Lantz was born in Santa Fe’s La Fonda Hotel, where his parents were both artists in residence. As a child he grew up in such varied environs as Santa Fe, Guadalajara, and the streets of New York City. During his unusual childhood, he came in contact with many artists, including the poet Witter Bynner, Frieda Kahlo, and later even made a habit of stopping in for coffee in Jackson Pollock’s studio, where he would watch Pollock dripping paint on his famous canvases for hours on end.
However, as a young man, Christopher was more interested in music. Christopher composed his first symphony at the age of 16. This symphony was later performed for Igor Stravinsky when Christopher was 19 and studying under Milton Babbitt. By the time he was 23, he had conducted his own symphonies with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. He currently holds a Doctor of Musical Arts and a Ph.D in acoustical physics from Stanford University. He has composed and conducted both his own and others’ contemporary and classical music in the United States and Europe.
During the 1970’s, Christopher began incorporating color and abstract painting into his musical scores in an attempt to solve the two dimensional limitations of traditional music. By the 1980’s, he had expanded his ‘art score’ technique to the degree that traditional notation was no longer incorporated.
Dr. Lantz has now returned full circle to painting works of art which are free from any notational significance, yet still retain the sense of timbre, rhythm, texture, and melody of music. His latest show, The Explosive Feminine, is composed of purely contemporary visual forms, and is dedicated to the concept of the feminine in all its aspects. It is the force of the feminine which not only keeps us all connected but also is the great dynamic which continues to birth new universes and the possibilities of different futures.


LIFE CHRONOLGY
1984- Present
House of Symphonies
Creation of four thousand square foot acoustical structure
containing the performance and scoring in unique graphic
musical languages for more than forty-nine symphonies.
Paintings 1984- Present
Sold internationally from private gallery and by commission.

1987-1988
Symphonia for One Dancer performed:
Taos Spring Arts Festival, 1987
Carnegie Hall, New York, 1988
Development of dance choreography, based upon a single dancer's control of musical score through dance movements following the interpretation of seven large paintings.

1970-1984
"Art Score" Paintings
Development and performances combining paintings with original musical compositions.
1983
Exhibition
Santa Fe Arts Festival
1982
One Man Show
The Loft Gallery, Santa Fe
1981
One Man Show
Ciechinelli Gallery, New York City
1980
Three day festival for the performance of "Art Score" Paintings
Presented by the City of New York
One Man Show
Castelli Gallery, New York City
One Man Show
Washington Square Church Gallery, New York City
1953-1988
Composer of over two hundred works, including one opera and three symphonies.
This music has been performed internationally in the United States, Canada, Europe and South America.
1967-1974
Associate Director, Society for the Performance of Contemporary
Music
Conducted over one hundred-fifty concerts of contemporary and avant garde music both in Europe and the United States.
1968-1969
Lecturer, Computer composition for music, improvisation and musical aesthetics.
Lectured at numerous universities and colleges, including Smith, L.S.U., Kent State, Spellmnan, Morehouse.
1966-1968
Post-doctorate Research, Developing sound systems for computer music
PDP-6 Artificial Intelligence Center, Stanford University.
1960-1968 Stanford University M.A., Doctor of Musical Arts, Ph.D. Acoustical Physics
1955-1960 Bard College B.A. Music

Compositional Studies:
1960-1966 Leland Smith, Stanford University
1955-1957 Paul Nordhoff, Bard College
1954 Roger Sessions, Princeton
1953 Sods Blocher, Tanglewood
1950-1954 Milton Babbit (Pulitzer Prize Winner, 1982), New York
1960-1978 Composer/conductor, International Society for American Composers (S.P.C.M.).
1967 Resident Composer, Marlboro Music Festival, Vermont
1964 Newberry Scholarship
1963 Ojai Festival Student Composition Award, Ojai, California
1962 Honorary Performance, San Francisco Conservatory
1960 and 1961 Stanford Humanities Prize