Christopher Tin

Christopher Chiyan Tin (born May 21, 1976) is an American composer and conductor. His work is primarily orchestral and choral, often with a world music influence. He is a two-time Grammy Award winner, and has won various awards for his work in video game soundtracks and studio albums. Tin 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, at the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards in 2011, became the first piece of video game music to win a Grammy Award. This Grammy win has been considered a significant milestone for the critical acceptance of music from video games, and following this win the Recording Academy retitled their visual media categories to become more inclusive of video game soundtracks, before eventually creating a dedicated Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Video Games and Other Interactive Media in 2022. Early life and education Tin was born May 21, 1976 in Palo Alto, California, to immigrant parents from Hong Kong. He attended Stanford University, and had a brief period as an exchange student at the University of Oxford. He double majored in music comp