Burnout Variations - Christopher Mertz
Burnout Variations, composed by Christopher Mertz, performed by Cleveland Institute of Music Young Composers Program musicians.
Christopher Mertz, 15, is a Chicago-based composer, double bassist, and historically informed performer. As a bassist, he serves as a member of the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America for the 2025 and 2026 seasons, among other national and international honors. As a composer, he considers himself a neoclassicist/neoromanticist, preferring to stick within established forms while maximizing the impact of each of his musical choices -- minimizing superfluity. One of his goals as a composer is to expand the repertoire of the double bass and other uncommon instruments, or to use familiar instruments in a surprising manner.