Christopher Marshall is a freelance composer born in France and currently based in New Zealand. His music has been commissioned and performed by such groups as the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, the Verdehr Trio from Michigan, USA, and many very fine wind ensembles throughout the world. Recent events include the world premieres of the male choir and clarinet song cycle 'Tihei Mauri Ora!' in the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington DC, and of the choir and double wind ensemble cantata 'U Trau' in Leiden, Holland. A 2004 joint choral commission has seen his works performed by some of the finest choirs in the United States. One of his most frequently performed works, 'L'homme armé: Variations for Wind Ensemble' was commissioned by Timothy Reynish and premiered in Sweden in 2003. Over the following months it has been heard by audiences in places as far apart as Norway, Singapore and New Zealand, also featuring in festivals and conferences in Montreal, Cincinnati and New York City.Christopher holds a Fellowship in Composition from Trinity College, London and a Master of Music with Honours from Auckland University in New Zealand. He was awarded the Mozart Fellowship at the University of Otago for two years from 1994 and was Fulbright Composer in Residence at the Eastman School in Rochester, New York in 1996-7. His music is notable for the importance it attaches to memorable, singable melody. Many influences can be detected, among them the music of the South Pacific. He lived and worked in Samoa from 1989 to 1993 and his choral arrangements of Samoan songs are very frequently performed, particularly in the United States.