Chance studied composition with Clifton Williams at the University of Texas, Austin, and is best known for his concert band works, which include Variations on a Korean Folk Song, Incantation and Dance, and Blue Lake Overture.
[1] After college he played timpani for the Austin Symphony Orchestra before becoming an arranger for the Eighth United States Army bands.
[1] The Northwestern University Band premiered the work in March 1966 at the American Bandmasters Association convention, where the composition won the Ostwald Award.
[1] After leaving the army Chance was the composer-in-residence at the Ford Foundation Young Composers Project in Greensboro, North Carolina, from 1960 to 1962.
His first major wind ensemble composition, Incantation and Dance, was composed and performed during his residency with Greensboro Senior High School.