Chris Whiter is a media composer with a hugely diverse portfolio. His layering of instrumental textures and rhythmic patterns have become a trademark of his compositions, and his portfolio includes international projects with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra and Academy Award Winner A R Rahman. In the world of video games his ever-growing credits include producing the full original soundtracks for Transformers BattleGrounds, Dreamworks Dragons Legends of the Nine Realms (How To Train Your Dragon franchise), Paw Patrol Grand Prix and Paw Patrol World, as well as working on the award winning title Get Packed and the critically acclaimed Jurassic World Aftermath.
His library music can be heard across the globe and has featured on global streaming services and major broadcasting networks in the UK, including Netflix (F1 | Drive to Survive), ITV (Tonight), E4 and the BBC (Top Gear, Watchdog, Panorama, Crimewatch, Deadly Dinosaurs, The One Show). Chris has also arranged for the multiple Grammy winning Metropole Orchestra, Dee Dee Bridgewater (2017 NEA Jazz Master) and the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, and has orchestrated for the top films and composers in the Indian film industry (2.0, Notebook).
As a performer Chris has worked with a number of top bands and professionals, having performed with Jack Jones, Guy Barker, Tim Garland and even Queen legend Brian May, among others, and has many international festivals – including Montreux, Vienne and North Sea – to his name. He held the Baritone chair with the National Youth Jazz Orchestra (NYJO) from 2011-13, contributing a number of charts, including the title track of the highly acclaimed album, The Change. He has played live on BBC 1 and Radio 3, performed at the BBC Proms (broadcast on BBC4) and been named as ‘One To Watch’ in Jazzwise magazine. In 2014, Chris won a place on the Metropole Orchestra Arrangers’ Workshop, working with renowned composer and conductor Vince Mendoza, and Grammy award winning vocalist Gregory Porter.
Chris began his professional career at Southampton University, where he first began to specialise in jazz and composition. He went on to achieve a distinction in his Masters in Music at Royal Holloway, University of London, before completing a PhD scholarship in studio composition. As an educator he has been invited to lead and facilitate a wide range of events across Europe, and as a lecturer he has led courses in Studio and Media Composition, Orchestration and Jazz History at Royal Holloway, University of London. He currently holds a part-time Lecturer role in Music and Sound Design at the School of Digital Arts (SODA) at Manchester Metropolitan University, focusing on sound design and composition for media and video games.
“…flautist/saxist Chris Whiter’s The Change (a thoroughly contemporary layering of instrumental textures and rhythm patterns) sounded as if it could be in the repertoire for years” – John Fordham, The Guardian
