From Musicworks Magazine profile:
Mayo has that pragmatic, but also self-aware, sense of how his attractive and intelligent compositional voice is currently taking shape, factoring in consideration for musicians and audiences, and wary of hermetic trends in contemporary classical music.
— Julian Cowley, Musicworks Magazine (Summer 2011)
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About Of Trees & Fields & Men:
"Of Trees & Fields & Men" (2011), by Christopher Mayo, a Canadian, was inspired by a verse in the poet Kenneth Patchen's "Wonderings" that begins with an odd simile: "O 'listen' is like an elephant/ Who stalks the woods at night." The elephant's weight and gait are captured in the rhythm, texture and vaguely South Asian spirit of this mildly exotic work for large ensemble. Hints of trumpeting and steady, muted cymbal crashes reinforce the image. But Mr. Mayo moves on: toward the end of the work the steady stomp gives way to a lovely, Neo-Romantic violin solo that morphs slowly into a chordal, rhythmic ensemble exploration.

Mr. Mayo's work was performed by the combined forces of the New York new-music group ACME (the American Contemporary Music Ensemble) and L'arsenale, from Italy.
— Allan Kozinn, The New York Times (11 May, 2011)
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Christopher Mayo's "Of Trees & Fields & Men," a festival commission featuring both ensembles conducted by Filippo Perocco, captivated with a quickly shifting kaleidoscope of sound worlds, bookended by mysterious, jazzy passages. At various points, the work also came to life with a thumping timpani beat matched by shimmering cymbals, jangly metallic music that sounded like an orchestrated wind chime, alternately skittering and sustained strings and a clang of pitched percussion that led to an abrasive but rewarding conclusion.
— Ronni Reich, The Star-Ledger (12 May, 2011)
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About Death on Three-Mile Creek:
In "Death on Three-Mile Creek," Christopher Mayo resourcefully evoked Appalachian folk styles, New Orleans funeral marches and the shifting pulses of drum 'n' bass electronica in setting aphoristic eulogies by Jonathan Williams. One song had Ilana Zarankin, a soprano, vaulting to vertiginous heights over a black groan of scraped strings and pedal tones; in another Ms. Zarankin sang in intentionally ragged concord with a second soprano, Clarissa Lyons, and a mezzo-soprano, Wang Nian.
— Steve Smith, The New York Times (18 April, 2011)
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About Jolt Him, An Awl, A Sin:
Fredericton's edgy chamber group Motion Ensemble prepared to premiere a new composition this weekend by the celebrated expat Canadian Christopher Mayo...

The Toronto-born, London-based Mayo is known for his multimedia, experimental music extravaganzas and is scheduled to cross the Atlantic so he can attend the first public performances of his newest composition by the group that commissioned it.
— Paul Gessell, The Telegraph-Journal (4 February, 2011)

About Binding the quiet:
Quant à Christopher Mayo, il fait une musique robuste, vive, spirituelle, colorée mais jamais légère : son portrait tout craché.

[As for Christopher Mayo, his music is robust, lively, witty, but never light: his spitting image.]
— Nicolas Gilbert, www.radio-canada.ca (8 November 2010)
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Christopher Mayo's Binding the quiet starts out in a brushed, pitchless soundscape of airy sounds and rustled paper. As it gradually accumulates more concrete surface detail, all derived from the same simple melodic line, rhythmic patterns begin to dominate, and the transformation is quick, total and delirious.
— Elissa Poole, The Globe and Mail (9 November 2010)
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«…Chris Mayo, aussi de l'Ontario, est l'architecte du groupe. Il va ériger son monument, tout doucement, à peine audible au début pour élever la musique, pierre par pierre », explique Mme Lacroix.

["Chris Mayo, also from Ontario, is the architect of the group. He builds his monument, softly, barely audible at first and erects the music, stone by stone." says Lacroix.]
— Brigitte Lemay, Le Métropolitain (10 November 2010)

Mayo me semble le talent le plus à même de construire des oeuvres plus vastes…

[Mayo seems to be the talent best able to build larger works…]
— Christopher Huss, Le Devoir (12 November 2010)

La virtuosité d'une certaine jeune musique anglaise se mâtine chez Mayo
(Binding the quiet) d'une attention toute particulière à l'exploration timbrale, particulièrement sensible en début de parcours, et la directionnalité formelle de cette quasi-toccate, dont on pressent assez rapidement l'objectif ultime, suit pourtant vers son apogée un chemin habilement sinueux et varié.

[In Mayo's work (Binding the quiet) the virtuosity of a certain young, English music is mixed with a particular attention to timbral exploration, particularly noticeable at the beginning of the work. The formal directionality of this quasi-toccata, in which we quickly sense the ultimate goal, follows a path toward its climax which is expertly winding and varied.]
— Michel Gonneville, cette ville étrange (20 November 2010)
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Christopher Mayo's Binding the quiet initially seemed to evoke natural soundscapes such as shifting wind-like sounds, with few pitch references. The rustle of crumpled paper emerged time and time again throughout the piece sounding subtly through the thickening instrumental textures. A constantly varied melody eventually emerged from the sonic mesh, gained rhythmic distinction, and then faded. The surprisingly rich sounds of crumpled paper...echoed in my mind.
— Andrew Timar, The WholeNote Blog (26 November 2010)
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À la fin du spectacle, l'heure du vote a sonné. Le vainqueur de la tournée remporte le prix du public Génération 2010, assorti d'une bourse de 1 000 $ et d'une commande des Jeunesses Musicales du Canada. Cette année, c'est Christopher Mayo qui a été choisi par près de 700 spectateurs pour son œuvre Binding the quiet. Une distinction de plus pour un jeune virtuose canadien.

[At the end of the show, the time to vote has come. The winner of the tour wins the audience award Generation 2010, with a cash prize of $1,000 and a commission from the Jeunesses Musicales du Canada. This year, Christopher Mayo was selected by about 700 spectators for his work Binding the quiet. One distinction more for a young Canadian virtuoso.]
— Elodie Crézé, L'Express du Pacifique (6 December 2010)
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About Classic Goldie:
[Goldie] has been working with a young composer called Christopher Mayo and is full of admiration – "He's like a watchmaker who has this hobby of making little carousels that all spin and turn and ballerinas pop out of boxes and woodmakers and cuckoos pop out."
— Lynn Barber, The Observer (19 July 2009)
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