About Us

The Chrysalis Foundation

Supporting the Evolution of Acoustic Music

Robert Henri, American painter and art teacher, wrote this passage in a 1915 letter to his students:

There are moments in our lives, there are moments in a day, when we seem to see beyond the usual. Such are the moments of our greatest happiness. Such are the moments of our greatest wisdom. If one could but recall his vision by some sort of sign! It was in this hope that the arts were invented. Signposts on the way to what may be… Signposts toward greater knowledge…

We are drawn to the works of art left for us by past masters, even as we continue to create new ones for ourselves in the present. We go to these signposts for direction, encouragement, and inspiration. We long for the glimpses they give us behind the material wall, into the intangible. We seek clues in them, like fingerprints of the invisible. Through them, we sense the mysterious fields and forces that infuse our physical reality, and continue to exist beyond it.

This website is designed to introduce you to the work of our music director Cris Forster; inventor, builder, composer, musician — creator of extraordinary signposts. For more than 45 passionate years, Cris has been building original acoustic instruments, teaching himself and others to play them, and composing music using their diverse timbres and flexible tunings. His ensemble includes nine large concert instruments, all beautifully built in the tradition of the finest instrument builders throughout history. Without the work of scientific craftsmen like Antonio Stradivari, Bartolomeo Cristofori, and countless other innovative explorers throughout the history of organology, the instruments that are the staples of our Western musical ensembles today would not exist. We continue our challenging journey with that thought always in mind.

Acoustic music is the most difficult music. Building musical instruments from the ground up is an expression of freedom and, therefore, an expression of imagination. -Cris Forster

All of the instruments in the Chrysalis Ensemble contain groundbreaking acoustical and technological advancements. With their extraordinary timbres and unusual tunings, they provide a new palette of fresh sounds for those who crave the resonance of acoustic music.

Cris has written a book, Musical Mathematics: On the Art and Science of Acoustic Instruments, which successfully builds a bridge between the lands of Science and Art. Musical Mathematics is at the core of the Chrysalis Foundation’s educational objectives, in conjunction with internship programs for collegiate musicians. We are dedicated to conveying advanced acoustic knowledge in such a way that others may use it most effectively in their own creative endeavors.

Here at the Chrysalis Foundation, we think that the future of music depends on developing and implementing a new musical vocabulary. We’re striving to raise the standard for the study of acoustic music, and to challenge all those who care about this discipline to a more thorough and rigorous investigation into what it means to make music. With the help of private donors, industrial contributors, and granting organizations, we continue to host public educational events, sponsor internship programs for musicians, produce recordings, and promote live performances.

Thank you for visiting the Chrysalis Foundation website. I hope you will listen to some of the music featured here and at our YouTube site. It embodies the ultimate goal of all our endeavors: creation of musical signposts to encourage, stimulate, and inspire all of us on our journeys.

Heidi Forster, President
San Francisco, California
July, 2022

The Chrysalis Foundation