Christopher Best (with relatives) c.1965

At twenty-one Chris decided to enroll at night school and do his music A-Level. From there it was but a short step to Lancaster University (taking composition as a first study under Edward Cowie) and thence to Churchill College Cambridge (Masters in composition and analysis under Hugh Wood) and Nottingham (Doctorate in composition under Nigel Osborne and James Fulkerson).

Around the time he was completing his doctorate, Chris became involved in adult education work, offering an ever increasing number of music appreciation classes all over Nottinghamshire. This work was immensely enjoyable and a great education in itself, requiring the preparation of new subjects every week.

A year or so later, the opportunity came up to teach BTEC and A-Level music at the Coventry Centre For The Performing Arts. Having just bought his first house, it was a stable income too good to miss and an ideal foot in the door for a career in education. It couldn’t have worked out better. As it turned out, CCPA was just about to move into HNDs and staff were invited to design courses and submit their proposals. Chris designed a HND in composition, the first of its kind anywhere in the country, which was eagerly approved. In 1995 the Centre was taken over by Coventry University, its courses converted into degrees and suddenly Chris found himself heading up his very own degree course.

A major career break came in 1998 when he secured the post of coordinator of composition at Dartington College in beautiful rural Devon, later gaining the title 'Reader in Music Composition'. In a strange repetition of history, Dartington was merged in 2008 with University College Falmouth and Chris will re-locate there in September this year to continue in his role as principal composition tutor.