Where does a small-town Iowa boy go when he wants to be an opera singer? He goes to the big city for training.

Christopher Hart (M.A. '90) came to UMKC to study with Norman Abelson at the UMKC Conservatory. After graduation, he spent a few years in Oklahoma. Then “life happened” and Hart followed the calling of a small town and moved to McComb, Mississippi.

For the past 12 years, Hart has served as the minister of music, media and arts for Centenary United Methodist Church. His background in music education was useful last year as he, along with the entire world, had to navigate through the pandemic. When in-person events decreased in numbers or came to a halt, Hart had to get creative.

“We learned how to livestream,” Hart said. “It has been a big learning curve over the past year. It hasn’t been easy, but we’ve learned how to adapt to it. The church never closed.”

Throughout the pandemic, Hart said the church held in-person and livestream services. Although attendance has picked up in the last few weeks, Hart said they will continue to offer a livestream because people like having that option. Hart said they brought the choir back in March with a few people in the balcony.

“They’re having a good time up there,” Hart said.

Hart has written dozens of songs. One he wrote six years ago, “In the Cross,” won best Christian song in the Dallas Songwriters Christian songwriters’ contest. The song, and a few others, can be found on iTunes. He has also written scores for four feature films with a fifth that will be released at the end of the year.

Hart’s current project, 12 Westerns in 12 Months, is a collaboration with friend, filmmaker and actor Travis Mills. He said the project has been fun and challenging because the deadlines are constant. To write the score for each movie, Hart read the scripts and received music ideas from the director, often in the form of temporary music. He said the process has been fun.

“Composing is like putting a puzzle together,” Hart said.

Between 2020 and 2021, Hart composed the soundtracks for "Bastard's Crossing," "She Was the Deputy's Wife," “The Bank Robbery” and "Counting Bullets." “Bastard's Crossing” garnered several film festival awards, the most recent being Best Mississippi Feature Film at the Oxford, Mississippi Film Festival. The movies will all be available on DVD, Amazon and Amazon Prime. Hart garnered a Festival Director’s Choice Best Score for “Counting Bullets.” 

Being a songwriter is not easy and doesn’t make a lot of money, so Hart created his own publishing company called Ten Minutes to Anywhere. The company name came out of his move to Mississippi.

“You can get anywhere in this town in 10 minutes,” he said. “It is nice.”

Even though being a composer and songwriter is more of a side gig, it is rewarding. His advice to someone considering a career as a composer is to keep writing.

“Write music every day,” Hart said. “Learn as much as you can about your craft. Study different composers. Don’t study just one genre. Be flexible. Study other people. Learn about the instruments. Learn about orchestral techniques. Learn about software and virtual instruments.”

And speaking of side gigs, Hart has also been performing onstage for more than 40 years and has become an experienced background actor.

“It’s fun being in the movies,” he said. “It’s a lot of work. It’s harder than you imagine.”

With a variety of projects at hand, Hart stays grounded and has turned projects down.

“I care about what I do,” Hart said. “I want what I do to be the best that can happen. I want to stay true to myself.”

For now, Hart is for hire as a composer and actor. His studio is in his home.

“As I get closer to retirement age,” he said. “I know I can do it from anywhere.”

And by it, Hart doesn’t only mean acting and composing. During the pandemic, Hart said he was concerned about losing his ability to sing high notes, so he’s been taking voice lessons. He’s ready to audition again. This opera singer is ready for his next role.

You can find Christopher Hart Film Composer on Facebook and see his acting credits on his IMDb page. They include The Wilderness Road, Tales of the Natchez Trace, Texas Red, Breaking News in Yuba County, Bastard’s Crossing, One Night in Miami, four episodes of NCIS New Orleans, two episodes of On Becoming a God in Central Florida, The Highwaymen.