Chris Walden: Two Grammy Nominations for Acclaimed Multi-Genre Composer

While pop, rock and hip-hop are well represented with screen time in the annual Grammy Awards telecast, The National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences also takes this annual opportunity to honor an expansive list of genres, from spoken word to polka. Included in this notable roster is classical music. Composer/arranger/conductor Chris Walden's Symphony No.1 The Four Elements recorded with the Hollywood Studio Symphony Orchestra was nominated for two Grammy Awards at the 2009 ceremonies, in the categories "Best Orchestral Performance" and "Best Classical Contemporary Composition." It is the first CD release of a symphonic concert work by Walden.

The German-born, Los Angeles based Walden has worked extensively since arriving in the U.S. in the mid-Nineties, scoring more than 40 feature and TV films, and writing arrangements for artists including Christina Aguilera, Michael Bolton, David Foster, Paul Anka, Sheryl Crow, Christopher Cross, and orchestras like the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, West Australian Philharmonic, Boston Pops and many more. Additionally, he has orchestrated for Barbra Streisand, Diana Krall, and Natalie Cole.

A musical director on many TV shows and series, Walden has contributed to more than 100 CD’s as an arranger and bandleader. A virtuoso trumpeter, he has been part on projects with jazz greats including Michael Brecker, Peter Erskine, Ernie Watts, Tierney Sutton, Bobby Shew, Pete Christlieb among many others. The Chris Walden Big Band's 2005 debut Home of My Heart received two Grammy nominations for “Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album” and “Best Instrumental Arrangement.”

 Entertainment lawyer, Helen Yu of the Los Angeles-based law firm Yu Leseberg represents Walden. Yu, who provides legal expertise for an award-winning roster of talent that includes film composers and pop songwriter/producers as well as film producers and directors, notes that it is Walden’s ability to create across multiple musical platforms that makes him distinctive. “Chris Walden is one of the most versatile composers and musical visionaries currently working in modern music,” say Yu. “From classical music to pop; film soundtracks to jazz he is the absolute master of an astonishingly diverse repertoire of music.”