- MMus 1993, Composition, Ohio State University
- BA 1983, Zoology, Ohio Wesleyan University
- MMus 1993, Composition, Ohio State University
- BA 1983, Zoology, Ohio Wesleyan University
Christian Cherry is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, and performer whose output has been mostly in dance, theatre and collaborative performance. His work has been presented in a variety of venues in the U.S. and in Europe and Asia. Cherry's work at dance festivals includes 10 years (‘88-‘98) at the American Dance Festival in Durham, N.C. and the Bates Dance Festival ('01-'05) in Maine. He participated in two ADF/Seoul tours to South Korea.
As a dance educator, Cherry has been part of several prominent dance departments. In 1983, he joined the Ohio State University Dance Department under the generous tutelage of Richard Schenk. In 1993, he moved to Tampa, Florida to join the faculty of the University of South Florida. In 1996, he took the music director position at the University of Illinois where he created works in a wide ranging output emphasizing electro-acoustic scores. Cherry moved to Oregon in 2001 as music director in dance at the University of Oregon with his wife and life dance partner, Sarah Ebert. Excerpts of work can be heard on his external website.
As an associate professor of dance at the University of Oregon, Cherry has taught Fundamentals of Rhythm, Music for Dance, Accompaniment for Dance, Dance Improvisation, Production Technology, Contact Improvisation, Graduate Seminar, Aesthetics and Choreographer/Composer Workshop. His research includes collaboration and process in dance, and the poetics of dance. His responsibilites as music director include technical and supervisory support of musical and production elements of productions in the UO's Dougherty Dance Theatre.
Cherry's responsibilities as music director include technical and artistic support of productions in Dougherty Dance Theatre at the University of Oregon. Cherry serves as both an artistic and academic advisor, Graduate Director in Dance and on various departmental, school and university committees.