Christiaan van Voorst van Beest is a bassist and composer living in Brooklyn, NY. Chris received a Bachelors degree in music from the University of New Hampshire and a Masters degree in composition from the City College of New York, where he studied with Pulitzer-Prize winning composer David Del Tredici.
As a bassist, Chris is known for his big sound and lyrical bass lines. Highly sought after in the New York jazz community, he also plays for theater groups, songwriters, and chamber ensembles. Chris has toured, performed, and recorded with a diverse set of artists including Robert Glasper, Gabriel Kahane, Sam Amidon and Frank Kimbrough. He is a member of his own ensemble Hear+Now, the critically acclaimed Danny Fox Trio, the Flamingo Trio, and saxophone/bass duo project Evan & Chris.
As a composer, Chris writes both chamber music and music for improvisors, founding a contemporary chamber ensemble called Hear+Now, in which original chamber works are followed by improvised responses. A new live recording of Hear+Now features his most ambitious work to date: a broad program of new works and improvisations exploring the dialogue between composition and immediate musical reaction. Chris has been awarded a Dutch grant for composition and nominated twice for the Charles Ives Arts and Letters award.
