Hey folks! I’m Kris Kirk (he/him) a first generation chicanx composer and sound designer who has always had a healthy obsession with all things nerdy. I love it all, from video games and board games, to role-playing in Dungeons & Dragons campaigns as a bard (just typical of a composer). I keep a pair of large metal 20 sided dice on my desk when I need something to fiddle with (or to make a performance check). These narrative driven hobbies have wormed their way into what I create. Much like these fantastical mediums, I focus on the stories and experiences that audio might imply.

Unlike most, I didn’t start my musical journey until I was 13 years old. I had been asking my mom to let me take piano lessons ever since elementary school, but our finances were tight, and she later told me she wanted to be sure it was something I was passionate about. After years of asking, she knew that’s exactly what this was: passion. For the first month of lessons, I didn’t have access to a piano. I made do, on the floor, with a paper layout of the keys. Eventually, mom had saved up enough to get me my first piano, a Casio one that had light up keys. Believe it or not, I even carried that keyboard with me around my high school… yup. But from there on out, I knew music was to be my life. The passion was always there, and it always will be.

When we listen as others share their experiences, we're opened to a new world view. That’s why I also share a deep passion for supporting unheard voices from marginalized communities. These are stories that we don't often see on the screen or stage. Through my audio, and what my audio supports, I hope to spark conversations that will go beyond the screen and concert hall.

Now that you know a bit about me, here’s the part where I share what I’ve been up to. First, the classical side of the coin. Did I just refer to myself as a coin?

2022 saw ABLAZE records release The Endling Suite: Last of Its Kind, my piece for Pierrot and percussion. In 2021, I had the great pleasure of being a part of Musaics of the Bay’s Stay at Home Emporium. With them, I collaborated with the wonderful cellist, Timotheos Petrin. Inspired by Tim’s painting of the same name, I wrote Dawn for solo cello. In 2019, I composed and conducted the concert premier of the chamber opera, Persephone. For the 2018-2019 academic year, I was the composer in residence with the Purchase Contemporary Chamber Players (PCCP) at SUNY Purchase. For the PCCP, I wrote a reactionary piece to the 2018 CA summer wildfires, titled I Mistook the Smoke for Clouds.

Neat stuff! Here’s what I’ve been doing in the world of games and media. So far this year (2022) I was at PAX West for the Let’s Make a Game: Live on Stage! panel, creating music and sound design live on stage (duh). It was utter chaos in the best way. I also did sound design for the animated short film, Díthyrambos. In 2021, the game vignettes Good Lookin’ Home Cookin’ (GLHC) and Roll for Confidence were launched by Team Toadhouse Games. GLHC has continued to receive high praise for its accurate representation of mental health and Ramadan, even getting a feature in the LA Times. I also did the score and sound design for the animated short, Fragments, by Jean Yu, soon to be released. In 2018, I did the score for the indie puzzle game Alien Escape by developer NoFuel Games. It went on to be among the Top 10 Europe games for Google Play’s Indie Game Festival in 2019.

Upcoming releases include the VR title, Please, by Michael Lee, a recipient of the 2019 Oculus Launch Pad Scholarship, for which I’m doing music and select sound design for. Call Me Cera, the visual novel by Team Toadhouse Games, which will I did music for. There’s also other projects that I can’t quite talk about just yet. Figures, right?

So, where did I learn how to do all this cool stuff? Me and my student debt are glad you asked!

A California native, I attended UC Davis and graduated with honors in 2017, earning a B.A. in Music. While there, I privately studied with Guggenheim Fellows Kurt Rohde and Laurie San Martin. I went on to earn an M.M. in Classical Composition from the Conservatory of Music at SUNY Purchase in 2019, and studied with Gregory Spears and Laura Kaminsky. In 2020, I graduated from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music where I attended their esteemed Technology and Applied Composition program. At SFCM, my instructors were Matt Levine, Mike Morasky, Maryclare Brzytwa, Daria Novo, and Taurin Barrera.

My private teacher at SFCM was Marco d’Ambrosio, most well known for his work on Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, and JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure (OVA).

Currently, I reside in Los Angeles. People tend to include that at the end for some reason, so I figured I would too.