THEATRE MUSIC
Chris has established himself as a leading voice in contemporary opera and theatre. His critically acclaimed hybrid-musical Hook Up was nominated for the 2019 Dora Award for outstanding new opera. He was also nominated for the same award in 2014. He was the sound designer, music producer, composer, and arranger for the massive site-specific work Brantwood, which won the 2015 Audience Choice Dora Award.
In collaboration with playwright David Yee, Chris composed music for cicadas, an eco-horror radio drama for Irresistible Neighbourhoods presented by the National Arts Centre. Coproduced by the English Theatre and NAC Orchestra, cicadas premiered during the Spheres festival in 2024.
‘cicadas’ was recommissioned as a coproduction by the National Arts Centre English Theatre and Orchestration and Tarragon Theatre, in collaborationation with fu-GEN Asian Canadian Theatre Company, as a full-length eco-thriller, blending orchestral music with live theatre.
‘cicadas’ trailer, Tarragon Theatre
“Hook Up” sneak peek
STILLS FROM ‘CICADAS’
Ellora Patnaik, Tarragon Theatre. Photo by Jae Yang.
Ryan Hollyman, Monica Dottor, Tarragon Theatre. Photo by Jae Yang
Ryan Hollyman, Tarragon Theatre. Photo by Jae Yang
WHAT PEOPLE SAY ABOUT ‘CICADAS’
“cicadas is unlike anything I have ever seen in a live theatre setting before.”
— Broadway World
“Truly Creepy. Sent goosebumps shivering up my spine.”
— apt613
“Eerie, atmospheric score that pulses between every scene.”
— Next Magazine
“It works on a visceral level. Chilling. An eco-thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat.”
— Glenn Sumi
“The music continuously paints the emotional landscape of the production through trembling percussion, horror-inspired dissonances, burbling, eerie lullabies and sudden jumps of sonic violence. Written in tandem with the script, music becomes the soul of cicadas, an invisible natural force existing regardless of human logic, grief or order.”
— Sveta Soloveva
“Stylish, sly, and often unnerving. An edge-of-the seat tale that never lets go, cicadas is a grand experiment that works.”
— Our Theatre Voice
“Thornborrow’s score feels like something out of a Jordan Peele film, creating atmospheric tension that even Alfred Hitchcock might admire.”
— The Globe & Mail
“Thornborrow conjures a shimmering, surrealist world.”
— The Toronto Star
“cicadas is a brilliant mosaic of elements that come together to deliver a message that no matter how we may try, you can’t bury the natural world and its truth forever.”
— Ludwig Van Toronto
“Music was a key part of the dramaturgy, taking us away from logic & linearity into a place that was more lyrical and poetic, somewhat subjective, imagined, internal. A magical experience. I was moved, and the day after can’t stop thinking about what I’ve seen and heard.”
— Barcza’s Blog
“Dramatic, ethereal, and nightmare-inducing. Unlike anything you have ever seen.”
— A View from the Box
WHAT PEOPLE SAY ABOUT ‘HOOK UP’
“Hook Up looks at issues that teens are dealing with and treats them with respect, compassion, and generosity of spirit. It’s an important work.”
— Lynn Slotkin, The Slotkin Letter
“This is opera at its most socially engaged and political. Often this is a recipe for theatrical disaster. But, almost miraculously, Hook Up actually works.”
“Hook Up bucks all the trends, with an orchestration and sensibility that definitely landed further on the musical theatre side of the spectrum, and in the best way possible.”
“Many shows have taken on the topic of sex, consent and rape culture on college campuses, but few have mined it with as much depth and sensitivity as Hook Up. Thornborrow’s urgent and characterful score matches the work’s moods, while Tepperman’s libretto, from its moments of high drama to its pregnant silences, is masterful.”
CONCERT MUSIC
Chris composes orchestral works and chamber music. He has received the Karen Kieser Prize in Canadian Music for his piece Walking, and was nominated for the Louis Appelbaum Award for Composition.
His music has been commissioned, performed, and recorded by ArrayMusic, Ensemble Paramirabo, Esprit Orchestra, Hamilton Philharmonic, junctQìn keyboard collective, Thin Edge New Music Collective, Toronto Symphony Orchestra New Creations Festival, TorQ Percussion, and the Toy Piano Composers.
His music fuses minimalistic textures with colourful orchestrations, tectonic shifts in energy, rhythmic playfulness, and a subtle sense of humour.
COMMISSIONS & COLLABORATIONS
MUSIC WITH YOUNG PEOPLE
Chris has co-created over 60 performances in collaboration with the Canadian Opera Company (COC) and young people across the Greater Toronto Area. As an Arts Educator, his programs with the COC, the Canadian Children’s Opera Chorus, the Gryphon Trio, and Continuum Contemporary Ensemble have reached thousands of students. In 2020, his passion for writing music for, and working with young people was recognized with a nomination for the Louis Appelbaum Composition Award.
'Listen Up!' is a multi-disciplinary arts education program that was founded in 2010 by the world-renowned Gryphon Trio. Chris was commissioned by the Gryphon Trio to produce a three-part educational video series, introducing students of all ages to the creative process, and the worlds of choral and chamber music that are at the heart of the Listen Up! program.
“Thornborrow needs little gold medals (the foil-wrapped kind, with waxy milk chocolate inside) for his invaluable work in getting kids excited about music and theatre.”