Kristopher Bendrick’s compositions explore a balance between the seriousness of interpersonal vulnerability and the levity of absurdism. He asks his performers to create complex sounds with flailing gestures while his electronic music works with shaping harsh noise aggregation, which he intends to grate against the comfort level of his audience. Thematically, many of his pieces deal with feelings of interpersonal discomfort and vulnerability that result from encroaching existential dread. His use of absurdism creates darkly whimsical and nonsensical narratives that bring light-heartedness to an otherwise dismal aesthetic.
Kristopher is a Kalamazoo based composer pursuing a PhD in Music Composition at the University of Pennsylvania as a Benjamin Franklin fellow with a Master's of Music Composition from Western Michigan University and a Bachelor's of Music from Columbia College Chicago. In his time at Western Michigan, he studied with Christopher Biggs and Lisa Coons and is currently studying with Natacha Diels and Tyshawn Sorey at University of Pennsylvania. He has worked with numerous performers and ensembles including the PRISM Quartet, Yarn/Wire, the Dutch/American Trio Sonic Hedgehog, members of Mocrep, members of Fonema Consort, and members of Ensemble Dal Niente. He is the SEAMUS 2022 1st Prize recipient, a winner of the MTNA National Composition Competition, the recipient of the Turner Award, a Hokin Award nominee, and the recipient of the 2019 & 2020 College of Fine Arts Graduate Teaching Effectiveness Award.