Christopher Ariza is a composer and programmer of sonic structures and systems. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Recording Arts and Music Technology within the Towson University Department of Music. He has studied at Harvard University (BA) and New York University (MA, PhD). He has composed for theatre, film, concert-hall, and interactive media, and his compositions have been performed at numerous concerts and festivals (ICMC, SEAMUS, NWEAMO, Look & Listen, June in Buffalo, and Spark). He performs live electronics in the trio KIOKU, an ensemble that presents traditional East-Asian music within a context of collaborative experimentation and improvisation.

Recognitions in composition include the Hugh MacColl prize (1999) and the John Green Fellowship in Composition (1999) from Harvard University, two BMI Student Composer Awards (2001, 2002), and a finalist designation in the 25th Concorso Internazionale "Luigi Russolo" (2003); commissions include new works for the 2003-2004 tour of the Los Angeles based TaikoProject.

Research grants include a U.S. Fulbright grant (2004) to the Institute of Sonology, The Hague, the Netherlands, for research in algorithmic composition system design. His research in generative music systems and computer-aided algorithmic composition has been published in the Computer Music Journal and presented at numerous national and international conferences (SEAMUS, SMT, ICMC, ATMI), and is made available through the open-source, cross-platform software athenaCL.

His web-based media and music systems include the babelcast and telequalia algorithmic podcast series, the Post-Ut ear training system, the algorithmic.net research lexicon, and the envl.net music composition tools.

His music, software, and research are distributed via www.flexatone.net.