An Interview with Christopher Alexander

Christopher Alexander is a choral composer and longtime accompanist whose text-driven writing centers on high-quality, singable repertoire for school and community choirs. A graduate of Missouri Western State University with a Bachelor’s in Vocal Music Education, he spent eleven years as a high school accompanist before turning to composition full-time. His Alfred debut arrived in 2025, and he writes from a home office overlooking a creek and a forest glade.

Q: How did you first discover your passion for composing?

When I was twelve, I was sitting in a junior choir rehearsal at my church, holding a piece of music. After the director showed us the title, I noticed a name printed next to it — the composer. Once we’d learned the piece, I made the connection that a real person had written this music that all of us were now singing and enjoying. I wanted to be like that composer: someone who writes music that others would sing and have fun performing. (I wish I could remember whose name was on that piece, because I’d love to thank them now for the inspiration.)

Q: Who has shaped how you think about music?

It’s hard to narrow this down to one person. Every school music teacher and choir director I’ve studied with has been a great influence, each showing me a different way to interpret music from around the world.

Q: What was the first piece that made you think, “I might actually be onto something here”?

I arranged a Josh Groban song for my high school show choir, and we performed it at our Homecoming ceremony. Afterward, a lot of students and teachers came up to congratulate me — they loved the song and were glad to know I’d put it together. That was a real moment of elation, and it made me want to contribute to music-making as much as I possibly could.

Q: What’s the hardest creative problem you’ve had to solve, and how did you get through it?

Honestly, the hardest part for me is just getting started. At this point in music history, so many poems — famous and obscure — have already been set by more accomplished composers, which makes it harder to find new texts that fit my creative style. There are millions of poems already out there, and millions more still waiting to be written. Deciding where to begin and which words to use is difficult. Through a lot of research into poetic texts, the words that speak to me usually end up becoming the texts for my songs. Occasionally I’ll write my own words, but only when I have something specific and personal to say about a subject dear to me.

Q: How has your compositional voice changed over the years?

When I first started writing, I strictly followed the rules of music theory and tried never to break them. As my creativity has broadened, I’ve come to treat those rules more as guidelines and suggestions. That shift has let more of my creative ideas be fully realized instead of being hindered by the rules.

Q: Do you have a favorite piece on Alfred.com? What was the spark behind it?

So far it’s my original work “Petrichor.” Everyone has been through a rainstorm at least once, but we rarely take the time to appreciate what happens afterward — that gift from the earth. The smell of freshly watered grass right after the rain disappears is one of my favorite scents in the world. It was hard to describe that feeling to others until I set it to music.

Q: If there were a soundtrack for your life right now, what piece would it be?

Erik Satie’s “Gymnopédie No. 1.”

Q: Where are you based, and how does your environment influence your work?

I work from home, and from where my desk sits I can look right out my office window at a small creek and a forest glade. It’s a serene view that always calms me if I ever get stressed while working on a composition.

Q: How do you spend most of your working hours?

Most of my time is spent composing. I still occasionally perform with my church choir or in musical theater productions with my local community theater, but since those are scheduled, composing has become my daily occurrence.

Q: Where did you study, and how much of what you do traces back to your formal training versus what you figured out on your own?

I received my Bachelor’s in Vocal Music Education from Missouri Western State University. During college and my years as a high school music teacher and accompanist, I had wonderful access to hearing how different pieces would be interpreted by choral ensembles — seeing firsthand which songs were stellar hits with the singers and which weren’t. As a composer, that direct access is gone. So now I almost have to anticipate what will work both for my piece and for the choir I’m writing for.

Q: Did you grow up in a musical household?

Most of my family was involved in music. As I joined the choir departments at school, my older brother went into band and played trumpet. My mother played handbells and still sings with me in the church choir. My dad — not musical at all. The only thing he could do was sing the first phrase of “O sole mio,” and even that was out of tune! But my parents were incredibly supportive of both of us, and I firmly believe I couldn’t be where I am today without that support.

Q: How long have you been publishing with Alfred, and how did that relationship start?

I submitted a few of my works to Alfred a few years ago, and my first piece was published in 2025. I’m still fairly new to the Alfred family, but I hope to keep contributing new works to the repertoire in the coming years.

Q: Outside of composing, is there another role in music that’s been just as central to who you are?

I was a high school accompanist for eleven years, and I was fortunate to be treated as a co-teacher in the choral department rather than just an employee. I firmly believe that all accompanists — part-time or full-time — are essential to the growth of any choir program. It’s not a field that’s often encouraged or pursued, so very few new accompanists are coming in while the experienced ones retire or move on to other ventures. We’re a bit of a dying breed, and yet, at least in my experience, the need for accompanists has only become more urgent. Treat your accompanist well, and they won’t want to leave.

Q: How has the music education publishing world changed, and how has that shaped what you write?

Music education articles now put an incredible focus on current world, social, and cultural issues, and on how to address them through lessons and practice. They bring necessary awareness to educators, and I think composers should see them as new — even if temporary — targets for meaningful new works. Some topics are more taboo than others, but students face so many things on their own in today’s world that can’t be resolved in a single hour-long rehearsal. At the very least, we can try.

Q: What’s a repertoire gap you think the industry still hasn’t figured out?

Right now the gap I see is new pieces built on underutilized or forgotten classic poems. Many of these poems are in the public domain, which makes them easier to access, and I think it would be a real service to music — and even to Language Arts classes — to reintroduce them in fresh, exciting musical settings.

Q: What do you want your body of work to add up to?

I don’t really have a conscious plan for what my work should build toward. My effort is simply to create a breadth of high-quality repertoire that everybody can appreciate — and hopefully be inspired by at least one work of mine.

Browse Christopher’s titles on Alfred Music and bring something meaningful to your next concert.

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