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Biography
distinguish2| Christopher Tyng , the American composer known for his work on FuturamaInfobox person| name = Christopher Tin ???| image = Christopher Tin.jpg| caption =| birthname =| birth_date = 1976| birth_place = California | death_date =| death_place =| othername =| occupation = Composer | yearsactive = 2001& ndash;present| spouse =| domesticpartner =| children =| parents =| influences = Ennio Morricone , Joel McNeely | influenced =| website = http://christophertin.com/| notable role =| academyawards =| emmyawards =| tonyawards =| goldenglobeawards =| baftaawards =| sagawards =| cesarawards =| goyaawards =| afiawards =| filmfareawards=| olivierawards =| geminiawards =| grammyawards =Chinese |c=??? |p=Tián Zhìrén|w=Tien Chih-jen |y=Tin4 Ji3 Yan4 |cj=Tin4 Ji3 Yan4 |j=Tin4 Zi3 Jan4 Christopher Tin (zh|c=???) is an United States|American composer whose work is primarily classical, with a world music influence. He won two Grammy Awards for his classical crossover album, Calling All Dawns . He is also a composer for films, video games and commercials. Tin is best known for his composition Baba Yetu , featured in the 2005 Personal computer game|computer game Civilization IV .
Life and career
Career
Christopher Tin, a Chinese American , was born and raised in California . http://www.christophertin.com/biography.html Official site, biography He worked on his undergraduate education at University of Oxford|Oxford and Stanford University . At Stanford, he was active in the taiko group,cite web |url= http://www.stanford.edu/group/stanfordtaiko/alumni.htm |title=Alumni |accessdate=2008-02-28 |year=2006 |work=Stanford Taiko Dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot Stanford Taiko, and conducting|conducted the a cappella group, Stanford Talisman ,cite web |url= http://www.onensemble.org/UpdatesArchive/Updates04.html |title=Updates (archives) |accessdate=2008-02-28 |author=Shoji |date=2004-11-29 |work=On Ensemble at Stanford Dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBotcite web |url= http://www.stanfordtalisman.com/html/music.html |title=The Rhythms and Harmonies of Talisman |accessdate=2008-02-28 |year=2000 |work= Stanford Talisman several musical theatre|musical s,cite web |url= http://www.stanfordalumni.org/news/magazine/2004/mayjun/show/tin.html |title=Getting in Synch |accessdate=2008-02-28 |author=Oxfeld, Jesse |year=2004 |work=Stanford Magazine and choral concerts at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia|Atlanta , Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia .Official site, resume While there, he roomed with video game designer Soren Johnson .cite web |url= http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php? id=142558 |title=Looking Back... Civilization IV |accessdate=2008-02-28 |author=PC Zone Staff |date=2006-07-06 |work=Computer and video games He graduated in 1998, receiving a Bachelor of Arts|BA with Honors in music composition|Music Composition and English literature|English Literature . He continued to study at Stanford and received an Master of Arts (postgraduate)|MA in Humanities in 1999.cite web |url= http://alfred.com/img/authors/tin.html |title=Christopher Tin |accessdate=2008-02-28 |year=2008 |work= Alfred Publishing He was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship , becoming the first to be awarded one for film scoring,cite web |url= http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/mp/2003/03/27/stories/2003032700930100.htm |title=The `shakti' of sound |accessdate=2008-02-28 |author=Gautam, Savitha |year=2003 |work=The Hindu to study composition and conducting at the Royal College of Music in London , and he graduated with a Master of Music|MMus with Distinction. He was also the winner of the Vladimir Horowitz|Horovitz composition prize, and graduated with the highest grades in his class. He was also commissioned by the Embassy of the United States in London|US Embassy in London to compose music for a string quartet . In 2003, he became a Sundance Institute Film Music Lab Fellow.cite web |url= http://www.bmi.com/news/entry/233803 |title=BMI and Sundance Announce 2003 Composers Lab Fellows |accessdate=2008-02-28 |author= Broadcast Music Incorporated |year=2003 |work= Sundance Institute
Tin returned to Los Angeles and continued his career by producing Television program|TV show music and working as an intern with Hans Zimmer , composer for The Lion King and Gladiator (2000 film)|Gladiator , and Joel McNeely , with whom he worked on Mulan II .John Ottman contacted him to work on X2 (film)|X-Men 2 , for which he composed several original themes.cite web |url= http://www.gazillionmovies.com/Movies/Review/DVD/Posters/Tickets/X/XMen2.htm |title=X-Men 2 |accessdate=2008-02-28 |year=2008 |work=Gazillion Movies He also composed "Daydream" for Apple Inc. 's music software, GarageBand , and the music for an international advertisement of Puma AG . He also worked on television program|TV show music, notably for Nova (TV series)|Nova ,cite web |url= http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/wartech/credits.html |title=Battle Plan Under Fire: TV Program Credits |accessdate=2008-02-29 |month=April | year=2004 |work= Nova (TV series)|Nova The History Channel , and Discovery Channel .cite web |url= http://www.soundeluxdmg.com/content_interim2/musiccomp.shtml |title=Music Composition |accessdate=2008-02-29 |year=2007 |work= Soundelux Design Music Group|Soundelux DMG
"Baba Yetu"
By far his biggest break came in 2005, when Soren Johnson, his roommate at Stanford and now working as a game designer at Firaxis Games , asked him to compose the theme song for Civilization 4|Civilization IV . Tin responded with " Baba Yetu ," a choral piece performed by Stanford Talisman . Its lyrics are a Swahili language|Swahili version of the Lord's Prayer . It garnered a huge critical response, with over 20 reviewers singling out the theme on IGN , GameSpy , and Game Shark ,Official site, press and is a persistent favorite of blog posts.For example, see: cite web |url= http://sushi-delight.blogspot.com/2005/11/baba-yetu.html |title=Baba Yetu |accessdate=2008-12-02 |author="Sushi Delight" |date=2005-11-20 |work=Once Upon a Dreamer; cite web |url= http://lightseekinglight.blogspot.com/2005/12/christopher-tin-he-might-be-next-john.html |title= Christopher Tin; He Might Be the Next John Williams |accessdate=2008-12-02 |author="D.B. Light" |date=2005-12-26 |work=Light Seeking Light ; cite web |url= http://mssv.net/2007/03/15/baba-yetu/ |title=Baba Yetu |accessdate=2008-12-02 |author="Adrian"|date=2007-03-15 |work=Mssv ; cite web |url= http://www.violenceworker.com/my_weblog/2006/05/baba_yetu.html |title=Baba Yetu |accessdate=2008-12-02 |author="Violence Worker"|date=2006-05-12 |work=Violence Worker ; cite web |url= http://my-flights-of-fancy.blogspot.com/2006/09/baba-yetu.html |title=Baba Yetu |accessdate=2008-02-28 |author="M"|date=2006-09-20 |work=My Flights of Fancy; cite web |url= http://blog.lydiapintscher.de/2005/11/06/baba-yetu/ |title=Baba Yetu |accessdate=2008-12-02 |author=Pintscher, Lydia|date=2006-09-20 |work=life at the end of the universe ; etc. Contemporary Tommy Tallarico called it "incredible".cite web |url= http://www.soundeluxdmg.com/content_interim2/musiccomp.shtml |title=The Definitive Tommy Tallarico Interview |accessdate=2008-12-02 |date=2007-02-20 |work=Music 4 Games and the piece is a staple of the concert tour Video Games Live , which Tallarico organizes. It won Tin two awards at the GANG (Game Audio Network Guild) Awards in 2007.
On December 5, 2010, it was reported that " Baba Yetu " was nominated for the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards in the category for 'Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalists', making it the first video game theme nominated for a Grammy Award.cite web |url= http://www.digitalspy.com/gaming/news/a291495/civ-iv-theme-nominated-for-grammy.html | title='Civ IV' theme nominated for Grammy|accessdate=2010-12-05 |date=2010-12-05 On February 13, 2011, it was announced as the winner of its category, making it also the first piece of music composed for a video game to win a Grammy Award.cite web |url= http://games.on.net/article/11612/Video_Game_Music_Finally_Wins_a_Grammy_Civ_4s_Baba_Yetu | title=Video Game Music Finally Wins a Grammy: Civ 4's Baba Yetu |accessdate=2011-02-13 |date=2011-02-13
" Baba Yetu " has also been performed at various venues and events around the world, such as the opening ceremonies of the 2009 World Games in Kaohsiung Taiwan, Dubai fountain|The Dubai Fountain (the world’s largest water feature), concert programs at Kennedy Center|The Kennedy Center and Disney Concert Hall , and many more. Additionally, " Baba Yetu " is one of the most widely performed pieces of contemporary choral music, with hundreds of amateur choirs singing it internationally. In January 2011, Calling All Dawns was nominated for The 10th Annual Independent Music Awards in the Contemporary Classical Album category. Additionally, " Baba Yetu " won in the Song Used in Film/TV/Multimedia and World Beat Song category.cite web|url= http://www.independentmusicawards.com/ima/artist/christopher-tin |title=Christopher Tin |publisher=Independentmusicawards.com |date= |accessdate=2012-03-12
Calling All Dawns
Tin released his classical crossover album Calling All Dawns in 2009. The album won two Grammy Awards in the 53rd Grammy Awards for Grammy Award for Best Classical Crossover Album|Best Classical Crossover Album and Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s) for the song, " Baba Yetu ". The win marks the first time in history that a Grammy has been awarded to a composition written for a video game.
The album is a song-cycle in three uninterrupted movements: Day, Night, and Dawn (corresponding to life, death, and rebirth). The twelve songs are sung in twelve languages, ranging from Swahili language|Swahili to Polish language|Polish , from French language|French to Persian language|Persian to Maori language|Maori . The lyrics are taken from diverse sources, including Torah|the Torah , Bhagavad Gita|the Bhagavad Gita , ancient Persian and Japanese poetry, and lyrics by contemporary writers. Vocal traditions include African choral music, opera, medieval chant, Irish keening , and more.
The album features performances from over 200 musicians on six continents, including Frederica von Stade , Anonymous 4 , Soweto gospel choir|the Soweto Gospel Choir , Dulce Pontes , Sussan Deyhim and many more.
Works
Tin's works include both concert pieces and incidental music for films, TV shows, video games, commercials, and other multimedia applications. His works, scores and clients include:
Calling All Dawns (debut 2009 album) recorded with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Soweto Gospel Choir , Lia (singer)|Lia / ??, Aoi Tada / ???, Kaori Omura / ????, Jia Ruhan , Dulce Pontes , Anonymous 4 , Frederica von Stade , Sussan Deyhim , Stanford Talisman , On Ensemble.
X2 (film)|X2: X-Men United
Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch|Lilo and Stitch 2
In 2009, Christopher Tin and multi-instrumentalist and producer Shoji Kameda , aka "Kametron" formed an LA based production duo, http://www.stereoalchemy.com/ Stereo Alchemy. Their debut album, God of Love , was released 14 February 2012.cite web |url= http://www.stereoalchemy.com |title=Stereo Alchemy |accessdate=2009-12-07 |date=2009-12-07 |work=Stereo Alchemy
Awards
53rd Grammy Awards : Winner - Grammy Award for Best Classical Crossover Album|Best Classical Crossover Album (2011)
53rd Grammy Awards : Winner - Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s) (2011)
International Songwriting Competition : 1st Place - World Music Category (2010)
John Lennon Songwriting Contest : Finalist - World Music Category (2010)
Horovitz Composition Prize at Royal College of Music
GANG Awards: Best Original Vocal Song - Choral Baba Yetu|("Baba Yetu") , Rookie of the Year (2007)
USA Songwriting Competition: World Music Category Baba Yetu|("Baba Yetu") - Honorable Mention (2010)
GANG Awards: Best Adapted Soundtrack Pirates of the Caribbean Online|('Pirates of the Caribbean') - Nominee (2007)
Independent Music Awards|Independent Music Award : Best Song for Film/TV/Multimedia Baba Yetu|("Baba Yetu") - Winner (2010)
Independent Music Awards|Independent Music Award : Best World Beat Song Baba Yetu|("Baba Yetu") - Winner (2010)
Independent Music Awards|Independent Music Award : Best Contemporary Classical Album Calling All Dawns|('Calling All Dawns') - Nominee (2010)
GameSpy|Gamespy : Best Music ( Civilization IV ) - Honorable Mention (2005)
Regional Emmy Awards|Emmy Award: Best Historical Feature ('Fishbowl') (2007)
Archaeological Channel Film and Video Festival: Best Music ('Life in Limbo') - Honorable Mention (2009)
Sundance Composer's Fellowship (2003)
References
Reflist|2
External links
http://www.christophertin.com/ Official site
http://www.stereoalchemy.com/ Stereo Alchemy official site
IMDb name|1439725
http://www.myspace.com/tinworks Christopher Tin at MySpace
http://www.youtube.com/user/tinworks Christopher Tin at Youtube
Persondata|NAME= Tin, Christopher |ALTERNATIVE NAMES= |SHORT DESCRIPTION= Composer |DATE OF BIRTH= 1976 |PLACE OF BIRTH= California |DATE OF DEATH= |PLACE OF DEATH= DEFAULTSORT:Tin, Christopher Category:21st-century classical composers Category:Alumni of the Royal College of Music Category:Alumni of the University of Oxford Category:American film score composers Category:American musicians of Chinese descent Category:Fulbright Scholars Category:Living people Category:Stanford University alumni Category:Video game composers Category:1976 births Category:Grammy Award winners
de:Christopher Tin fr:Christopher Tin id:Christopher Tin pl:Christopher Tin pt:Christopher Tin fi:Christopher Tin
