Christopher Young (born April 28, 1957) is an American

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

and

orchestrator Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra (or, more loosely, for any musical ensemble, such as a concert band) or of adapting music composed for another medium for an orchestra. Also called "instrumentation", orch ...

of film and television scores. Many of his compositions are for horror and thriller films, including ''

Hellraiser ''Hellraiser'' is a 1987 British supernatural horror film written and directed by Clive Barker, and produced by Christopher Figg, based on Barker's 1986 novella ''The Hellbound Heart''. The film marked Barker's directorial debut. Its plot invol ...

'', ''

Species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

'', ''

Urban Legend An urban legend (sometimes contemporary legend, modern legend, urban myth, or urban tale) is a genre of folklore comprising stories or fallacious claims circulated as true, especially as having happened to a "friend of a friend" or a family m ...

'', ''

The Grudge ''The Grudge'' is a 2004 supernatural horror film directed by Takashi Shimizu, written by Stephen Susco, and produced by Sam Raimi, Robert Tapert, and Takashige Ichise. A remake of Shimizu's 2002 Japanese horror film '' Ju-On: The Grudge'', i ...

'', '' The Exorcism of Emily Rose'', ''

Drag Me to Hell ''Drag Me to Hell'' is a 2009 American supernatural horror film directed and co-written by Sam Raimi. It stars Alison Lohman, Justin Long, Lorna Raver, Dileep Rao, David Paymer, and Adriana Barraza. The plot, written with his older brother Ivan, ...

'', ''

Sinister Sinister commonly refers to: * Evil * Ominous Sinister may also refer to: Left side * Sinister, Latin for the direction " left" * Sinister, in heraldry, is the bearer's true left side (viewers' right side) of an escutcheon or coat of arms; see ...

'', '' Deliver Us from Evil'' and ''

Pet Sematary ''Pet Sematary'' is a 1983 horror novel by American writer Stephen King. The novel was nominated for a World Fantasy Award for Best Novel in 1984, and adapted into two films: one in 1989 and another in 2019. In November 2013, PS Publishing r ...

''. Other works include '' Rapid Fire'', ''

Copycat Copycat refers to a person who copies some aspect of some thing or somebody else. Copycat may also refer to: Intellectual property rights * Copyright infringement, use of another’s ideas or words without permission * Patent infringement, a v ...

'', '' Set It Off'', '' Entrapment'', '' The Hurricane'', ''

Swordfish Swordfish (''Xiphias gladius''), also known as broadbills in some countries, are large, highly migratory predatory fish characterized by a long, flat, pointed bill. They are a popular sport fish of the billfish category, though elusive. Swordfis ...

'', ''

Ghost Rider Ghost Rider is the name of multiple antiheroes and superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Marvel had previously used the name for a Western character whose name was later changed to Phantom Rider. The first s ...

'', ''

Spider-Man 3 ''Spider-Man 3'' is a 2007 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Spider-Man. It was directed by Sam Raimi from a screenplay by Raimi, his older brother Ivan and Alvin Sargent. It is the final installment in Raimi's ...

'' and ''The Shipping News'', for which he was nominated for a

Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score The Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score is a Golden Globe Award presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), an organization of journalists who cover the United States film industry, but are affiliated with publications o ...

. Young was honored with the prestigious

Richard Kirk Richard Harold Kirk (21 March 1956 – 21 September 2021) was an English musician who specialised in electronic music. His career began as a co-founder of the influential industrial music band Cabaret Voltaire, formed in 1973. He subsequently ...

award at the 2008 BMI Film and TV Awards. The award is given annually to a composer who has made significant contributions to film and television music.

Life and career

Young was born in

Red Bank, New Jersey Red Bank is a borough in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. Incorporated in 1908, the community is on the Navesink River, the area's original transportation route to the ocean and other ports. Red Bank is in the New York Metropolitan A ...

. He graduated from

Hampshire College Hampshire College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. It was opened in 1970 as an experiment in alternative education, in association with four other colleges ...

in Massachusetts with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in music, and then completed his post-graduate work at the

University of North Texas The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public research university in Denton, Texas. It was founded as a nonsectarian, coeducational, private teachers college in 1890 and was formally adopted by the state 11 years later."Denton Normal School," ...

. In 1980, he moved to Los Angeles. Originally a jazz drummer, when he heard some of

Bernard Herrmann Bernard Herrmann (born Maximillian Herman; June 29, 1911December 24, 1975) was an American composer and conductor best known for his work in composing for films. As a conductor, he championed the music of lesser-known composers. He is widely re ...

's works he decided to become a film composer. He studied at the

UCLA Film School The UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television (UCLA TFT), is one of the 12 schools within the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) located in Los Angeles, California. Its creation was groundbreaking in that it was the first time a leadi ...

under

David Raksin David Raksin (August 4, 1912 – August 9, 2004) was an American composer who was noted for his work in film and television. With more than 100 film scores and 300 television scores to his credit, he became known as the "Grandfather of Film Music ...

. He teaches at the

Thornton School of Music The USC Thornton School of Music is a private music school in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1884 only four years after the University of Southern California, the Thornton School is the oldest continually operating arts institution in Los An ...

of the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

.USC faculty list
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Discography

Film

1960s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

2020s

Television

Video Games

References

External links

* *
Interview with Christopher Young at FilmMusicSite
{{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Christopher 1957 births American film score composers American male film score composers American television composers Hampshire College alumni Living people People from Red Bank, New Jersey University of North Texas College of Music alumni UCLA Film School alumni USC Thornton School of Music faculty Musicians from New Jersey Varèse Sarabande Records artists La-La Land Records artists