“Improvising is writing, too - there was no music and now there's music. So that's composition. And any time you take any sort of a performance liberty, you're making a compositional choice. I don't know a serious performer who hasn't made compositional decisions, who hasn't engaged in the art of composition.”

American singer-songwriter, musician, composer, and radio personality

Christopher Scott Thile is an American singer-songwriter, musician, composer, and radio personality. He is best known for his work with the progressive acoustic trio Nickel Creek and the acoustic folk and progressive bluegrass quintet Punch Brothers. Thile has been active across bluegrass, folk, and related acoustic styles, and his career also includes composing and broadcasting. From 2016 until the show's cancellation in 2020, he hosted the radio variety show Live from Here. He was named a MacArthur Fellow in 2012.