“...mellow and approachable, with vivid sonorities that linger in the memory.” 

On Invocation No. 2 “Fish, Father, Phoenix”:

‘Fish, Father, Phoenix’ employs taped fragments... and nature recordings over an ensemble of winds, strings, and percussion, mixed in a montage that raises questions about the meaning of life.”
 

On Invocation No. 3 “Sunday Stills The Willow”:

"Sunday Stills The Willow’ is a quiet, lyrical reflection that sums up the works’ poignant expressions.”

          ~ Blair Sanderson

“...very meditative, almost religious.” 

                                        ~ Daniel Coombs   

“Best in modern chamber music.” 

On “The Missing” for String Quartet:

“The music has a carefully balanced form and explores the sensations of loss, confusion and clarity, the ability to endure, reflect and face the future. There is a feeling listening to it that is like that of listen- ing to Shostakovich: something profoundly powerful and emotional that must be said, with no words adequate enough to say it. Instead there is music.”
 

On Invocation No. 1 “Exhaust”:

“While post-minimalist devices such as repeated-note ostinatos with syncopated accents, hard-hitting articulations and slow glissandos characterize the string trio movement, they never sound like clichés by virtue of Bono’s skillful textural deployment and ear for timbral variety.”

On “The Missing” for String Quartet:

“This composer-produced recording stands out for the engineeringʼs clean and clear quality and the focused precision of the performers.”

                                           ~Jed Distler

“...discovering Christopher Bono’s music has been a rewarding experience...” 

“The second movement, ‘Fish, Father, Phoenix,’ is something else entirely. Here a string quintet (with double bass) is joined by harp, winds, percussion, and a series of samples. Seemingly taking a cue from the documentary-like snippets of pre-recorded speech in Steve Reich’s landmark Different Trains, Bono weaves an elaborate soundtrack around fragments of a narrative. But unlike the speech samples Reich used, which—like those in Scott Johnson’s earlier John Somebody—determine the melodic shapes and rhythmic inflections in the instrumental music that accompanies them, Bono’s speech samples are but one timbral element in his multifarious sonic palette.”

On “The Missing” for String Quartet:

“While much of 21st-century contemporary composition is not beholden to any rules, to the extent that I could probably claim everyone to be an ʻoutsiderʼ in some ways, Bonoʼs music sounds as though everything he writes is something he is discovering for the very first time, even if there are clear refer- ence points throughout to the sound worlds of other composers from both our own time and other eras.”                                 

                                        ~ Frank J. Oteri

“So many self-produced CDs that arrive for review are not worthy of consideration for ARG or any oth- er classical magazine with standards. Occasionally though, something comes out of nowhere that is worthy and compelling. This is one of those.”

                                             ~ Jack Sullivan, American Record Guide

“As you listen you will hear compositional clarity--something often missing in contemporary music, and well-honed chord schematics that are as expressive as they are thoughtful.”

“...Bono concocts a broad, enticing, and unfamiliar musical landscape...bold and daring... The ques- tions he poses will stir your imagination.”

                                 ~ Micaele Sparacino 

“Christopher Bono has a great deal of color and vibrance in his works.”       

                                      ~ Chris McGovern 

“Bono’s compositions, which are cinematic in the purest sense of the word... they’re films for the ears...”