Christopher Otto

Christopher Otto is a composer and violinist living in the Bronx, New York. He studied composition at the Eastman School of Music and mathematics at the University of Rochester. In addition to his work as a founding member of the JACK Quartet, he has performed with such groups as Alarm Will Sound, the Cellar and Point, Ensemble Signal, International Contemporary Ensemble, the Knights, Ne(x)tworks, Talea, and the Theatre of Eternal Music String Ensemble. He has premiered and recorded numerous solo and chamber works by John Zorn and performed as a soloist in Zorn’s violin concerto Contes de Fées, and in Brian Ferneyhough’s Terrain. Chris’s compositions have explored harmonic possibilities in an expanding universe of just intonation. JACK has been a laboratory for some of these experiments, performing several of his quartets, and recording his rag′sma for two or three string quartets, which was released in 2021. He has also made arrangements for JACK of several medieval and Renaissance works notable for their rhythmic and harmonic complexity. His music can be heard at christopherotto.bandcamp.com and soundcloud.com/ottotelic. Christopher serves on the faculty of the Mannes School of Music, where JACK is Quartet in Residence.