Christopher Tin | Artist
Christopher Chiyan Tin is an American composer of art music, born 1976 in Redwood City, California. Tin composes primarily for film, television, and video game soundtracks. His orchestral and choral works often feature a world music influence. He is best known for his work on title themes for the Civilization video game series, specifically the main theme Baba Yetu from the video game Civilization IV, which became the first piece of video game music to win a Grammy Award, in 2011. This Grammy win has been considered a significant milestone for the critical acceptance of music from video games, prompting the Recording Academy to create a dedicated Grammy award for 'Best Score Soundtrack for Video Games and Other Interactive Media' in 2022. The son of immigrant parents from Hong Kong, Tin attended Stanford University, majoring in music composition and English literature. He also spent time at Oxford University as an exchange studen. While at university, he supplemented his studies by participating in various jazz, musical theatre, and world music student groups. Tin graduated in 1998, with a Bachelor of Arts degree (Hons.) and continued to study at Stanford, receiving a Master of Arts in Humanities, in film studies. In 1999, Tin was admitted to the Royal College of Music's Master of Music in Composition for Screen program, and received a Fulbright Scholarship, which was the first to be awarded for film scoring. He graduated with Distinction and won the Joseph Horovitz composition prize for the highest marks in his course. While a student at the Royal College of Music, Tin completed his first commission, the string quartet Lacrymosa, for the U.S. Embassy in London. Tin's biggest break came in 2005, when video game designer Soren Johnson, Tin's former roommate at Stanford, asked him to compose the theme song for Civilization IV. Tin composed "Baba Yetu" for the main theme, a choral, Swahili version of the Lord's Prayer recorded by his former a cappella group, Stanford Talisman. The song was widely praised, receiving rave reviews from within and outside the gaming community. To-date, Tin has released seven studio albums, including soundtrack works. Standout albums include Calling all Dawns (2009), The Drop That Contained The Sea (2014), To Shiver The Sky (2020), and The Lost Birds (2022). Tin collaborated with renowned Chinese pianist Lang Lang on the 2016 release of a piano and orchestra suite from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Tin's other works include arrangements of jazz tunes and Chinese music for the film Crazy Rich Asians, and music for the 2016 film Sausage Party.
Artist Website : christophertin.com
Featured Albums: Christopher Tin
Related Artists: Soundeluxe, Stereo Alchemy
