Chris O'Hara - Biography Chris is an award-winning composer, choral director, singer and music educator. He developed his love of singing as a member of the Merseyside Youth Choir and as a chorister at one of Liverpool's cathedrals. At the University of Leicester he also studied composition and singing, winning a scholarship to sing in the Scottish National Chorus in a series of concerts in Israel with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Daniel Barrenboim. Chris has been Head of Music in a variety of High Schools in the UK and was Director of Arts at a specialist arts college for 11-18 year olds in Derbyshire. Chris’ liturgical compositions have been widely used in the UK. He has composed several cantatas for children's and SATB choirs, soloists & instrumental ensembles including ‘The Mountain’ (1997 - on the theme of nature conservation) and 'The Other Shore' (2007 – reflecting the story of the 1938 Kinder transports). May 2012 saw the premiere of a new work by Chris for choir, soloists and orchestra - ‘ The Trees Alone Remain' – written for the charity the Woodland Trust to celebrate the ‘Jubilee Woods’ campaign. Directing and arranging music for choirs, conferences and community projects is one of Chris’ main areas of expertise and experience. He has been musical director and arranger for Radio 4’s ‘Daily Service’ and for several of BBC’s ‘Songs of Praise’ programmes and in 2008 Chris worked for six months as vocal coach and choral arranger for BBC1’s popular drama series about choirs - “All the Small Things”. Since September 2011 Chris has been working freelance as a composer and arranger. In 2013 his choral composition 'We Dare To Dream' was selected as the official theme song for the Hong Kong International Youth and Children's Choirs Festival. In December 2014 he was selected as a finalist in the first Jean Sibelius International Composition Competition and in April won the US-based Pullen Memorial choral composition prize. Current projects include a series of choral compositions setting to music the work of women poets (including Vera Brittain and Edith Sitwell) of the World War One era.