Chris Lastovicka

“There is no denying Lastovicka’s skill and potential …. There is a real sense of power and refined craft.”
  –FANFARE MAGAZINE

Noted for her “distinct and alert voice” (Fanfare), Chris Lastovicka composes music often influenced by psychological, metaphysical or poetical subjects. Her debut album of chamber music Fortune Has Turned is praised for being “formidable and beautiful” (Chronogram Magazine) and for its “power and refined craft” (Fanfare Magazine).

Chris wrote the score for Robin Becker Dance’s Into Sunlight, a work about the Vietnam War that has prompted an invitation from the World Council of Peoples of the United Nations. The Brooklyn Rail notes, “Lastovicka’s score intensified the performance’s emotional impact.”

Chris began her first serious composition studies at age 15 with Samuel Adler and credits him for fostering a rigorous technical foundation in her work. Chris graduated summa cum laude from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music where she was a full scholarship student studying with composers Frederick Bianchi, Allen Sapp, Joel Hoffman and organist Roberta Gary. She was twice the winner of the conservatory’s composition competition. Subsequent awards include the NFMC Hatz Special Recognition Award in composition, selection for the Dale Warland Singers’ commissioning project, and the inaugural winner of Melodia Women’s Choir of NYC’s commission competition. She received a CAP Grant from New Music USA, an Opera America grant and stipend, and a NYFA Strategic Opportunity stipend. Chris concertized as an organist throughout her teenage years, becoming the youngest winner in the history of Chicago’s Gruenstein Memorial National Organ Playing competition at age 14, and winning Oberlin’s Otto B. Schoepfle National Organ competition at age 16.

Chris Lastovicka’s music has been performed at the Boston Early Music Festival, Merce Cunningham Studio, 92nd Street Y, in Spoleto, Italy, and at several festivals, colleges and universities. Chris lives in Philmont, NY with her spouse Robin.

website: www.chrislastovicka.com
interviews: BUFORA (British UFO Research Association) // Joseph Dalton // Chronogram Magazine
photo of Chris Lastovicka by Victor Milin