Chris Wood

 
 

Chris has wandered in and under the bass clef (and, if pressed, a half-step or so above) for much of his life. As a grade-schooler, his long arms made him the band director's target for trombone, and his voice register easily targeted him toward bass.  He was able to manage both singing and playing until graduate school, but time pressures required a choice and singing won out. Chris is a neuroscientist, having held faculty positions at Yale, as Biophysics Group Leader at Los Alamos, and Vice President of the Santa Fe Institute until a serious cancer diagnosis in 2016. The Chorale has been an essential part of Chris’ life in more ways than singing: he met Nancy when he joined the Chorale in 1989 and they were married in 1994. Their children, grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren live in Switzerland, Wyoming, Arizona, and New Mexico. Chris believes there is a requiem for every occasion: he and Nancy programmed The Lord is My Shepherd from the Rutter requiem among the music at their wedding. Chris has also tried to convince every choral director with whom he’s sung to perform Thomas Tallis’ Spem in Alium, a 40-part, one-voice-per-part Renaissance motet.  Please, George?