Chris Neiner (b. 1994) is a Cleveland-based composer of contemporary classical music with
colorful harmony, diverse influences, and engaging energy. Neiner’s style derives from his
passion to foster collaborative works with instrumentalists. His recent collaborations include
Playtime, a new work for horn, violin, and piano, commissioned by a consortium of collegiate
horn professors across the United States; and Serenade for the Ghosts, a phantasmic fantasy for
clarinet and string quartet, commissioned by Musical Upcoming Stars in the Classics. His work
has been praised by Cleveland Classical for “incorporating the zazzy colors of the current new
music dialect,” and “pleasant shocks and melting cadences.”
The music of Chris Neiner has appeared on programs by the Grammy award-winning
Cleveland Chamber Symphony, Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra, Minnesota Sinfonia,
American Modern Ensemble, Boston New Music Initiative, Cochran Chamber Commissioning
Project, Copper Street Brass Quintet, Red Hedgehog Trio, loadbang, Minnesota Symphonic
Winds, Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies, Rocky Ridge Music Center, Sewanee Summer
Music Festival, faculty of the MacPhail Center for Music, and more.
Beyond his collaborative work as a composer, Neiner is a producer and coordinator for
several music events. In 2019, he served as the associate director, composer-in-residence, and
conductor for Music in the Circle, a summer concert series facilitating collaboration between
international artists and students, faculty, and alumni of the Cleveland Institute of Music. Other projects include Leora’s Reverie, a concert to benefit the One Voice Foundation by American-
Israeli songwriter Katia Bolotin, and New Music for Horn, a multidisciplinary project that facilitated music making between hornists, composers, conductors, and recording artists
studying at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.
Neiner is currently pursuing a master’s degree at the Cleveland Institute of Music, studying
with Keith Fitch. Learn more about Chris Neiner at https://www.chrisneiner.com or listen to his
work at https://soundcloud.com/chris-neiner.