Bio

Timothy Crist is a Professor of Music at Arkansas State University where he teaches composition, electronic music, theory, classical guitar, and conducts/directs the ASU New Music Ensemble and Guitar Ensembles. He is the recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts 2003 Individual Artist Fellowship for Music Composition. He has composed over 200 musical works for various media including solo, chamber, orchestral, band, and electronic, and is published by Cimarron Music. Crist received M.M. and D.M.A. degrees from the University of Georgia, Athens. Crist’s music is performed throughout the United States and has been featured on National Public Radio, SEAMUS conferences, Southeastern Composers League, the Electronic Music Midwest Festival, the Florida Electroacoustic Music Festival, and the Society of Composers, Inc. conferences. His students have been selected and received monetary awards to graduate programs at such prestigious institutions as Arizona State University, Bowling Green University, University of Indiana, University of Louisville, The Cleveland Conservatory of Music, and Brown University among others. Among his contributions to Arkansas State University is the development of the first ever A-State Guitar Orchestra, a group whose membership has grown from 20 to over 80. Instruments in the guitar orchestra include the normal guitar as well as the soprano, alto, baritone, and contrabass guitars, other plucked string instruments, and the addition of percussion and other instruments as needed.

In his recent outreach work in public schools, Crist has contributed to the development of guitar and string programs as well as introduced innovative learning strategies that have been implemented in local schools. His work in establishing guitar programs in public school programs in the state was recently recognized by the Guitar Foundation of America as one of the only of its kind in Arkansas. Crist’s innovative Music Outreach program recognizes the extreme child poverty rate in the Northeast Arkansas region and serves to offer free music classes to homeschooling and public school children in our region. The program offers classes in guitar, bass, ukulele, composition, electronic music, and piano, as well as in general music education, and is supported by fundraising events and by public contributions. All funding goes towards scholarships for A-State music students who teach in the program, guest artists and lecturers, or the purchase of instruments for students or music programs in our area.

Since 1999, Crist has also developed an electronic music program at A-State that serves to build comprehensive skills in musical perception, maintain modern trends in music creation, as well as train and provide competency for future teachers in regards to the implementation of music technology in education. The electronic music program also offers access to the necessary equipment for non-traditional students who wish to create music in new ways using technology. This also offers an opportunity for interdisciplinary study, an important, crucial aspect of university life and culture.

Crist is a Teaching Artist, a professional musician who is skilled in not only lecturing to academic audiences but also in presenting engaging music programs to children of all ages, adults, and senior citizens, and is a member of the Teaching Artists Guild and the Association of Teaching Artists. The focus of all his outreach projects is the identification and exploration of contact points among various disciplines and the arts. Music serves as a fundamental means of learning about any number of topics, where ideas can be understood conceptually, imaginatively integrated, felt physically, and become part of a result that is a unique, honest creative expression of oneself in which one has genuine ownership and satisfaction. In this way, music education is used as a hub for learning and is crucial to the success of any education program.

Crist has served as director of the Arkansas State University Lecture-Concert Series since 2010. The Lecture-Concert Series serves Arkansas State University and the surrounding communities in bringing to the A-State campus notable guest speakers and performers of diverse backgrounds and wide appeal. Many of the Lecture-Concert Series events include additional activities on the A-State campus as well as community outreach projects that enhance the quality of life and culture within and beyond the bounds of our university. All Lecture-Concert events are free and open to the public. As a result of its numerous school outreach events, the Lecture-Concert Series was nominated for and placed in a tie for first for an Arkansas Arts Council Arts in Education Governor’s Award in 2016. Since 2010, the Series has brought many extraordinary performers to area schools including string, saxophone, and guitar quartets, Tuvan throat singers, brass quintets, Baroque ensembles, early music specialists, and Persian, Chinese, and Japanese music performers among others.

Crist has also developed an early music program that presently includes performances on theorbo, lute, Baroque and Renaissance guitar, as well as viola de gamba. He also directs the Fowler Series which offers some of the finest artistic performance in the region to engage and invigorate our community. His website, www.timothycrist.com, contains links to original scores, recordings, an artist statement, and information about his Teaching Artist work.