Christopher David Cook (born 18 November 1988) is a British composer and conductor, who composes mainly for film and television. He is known for creating music used in the opening ceremony for the

London 2012 Olympic Games The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

as well as composing music for numerous movie trailers.

Early life and education

Christopher Cook was born in

Greenwich Greenwich ( , , ) is an List of areas of London, area in south-east London, England, within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London, east-south-east of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime hi ...

, London. His musical talent was apparent at a young age. He learned to play piano by ear at 6 years old. He developed as a musician without formal training by listening to television adverts and film scores for the next 6 years. Christopher was raised in Charlton, in SE London.

Career

Cook started his film/television composing career, composing scores for low-budget independent films, TV adverts, and radio jingles whilst studying. He also at this time started composing, arranging and orchestrating for small and large orchestras, without any academic aid. From 2007 to 2009, Cook had written several classical scores for piano and small orchestra, as well as submitting works to online music libraries. In 2010, Cook submitted works for the upcoming London 2012 Olympic games, but was only intended for advertisement purposes only. On 27 July 2012, The London Olympic Games commenced, with the soundtrack being released the day after, selling over 10,000 copies within the first 24 hours of it going on sale. Along with the success of the Olympics, Christopher has also composed scores for major film trailers. These include "

Angels & Demons ''Angels & Demons'' is a 2000 bestselling mystery- thriller novel written by American author Dan Brown and published by Pocket Books and then by Corgi Books. The novel introduces the character Robert Langdon, who recurs as the protagonist of ...

", "

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", and "

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the 16th president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincoln (na ...

". He has also written music for several small theatre plays and conducted several musicals, including "

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" on London's West End. He also provided some orchestrations for "Titanic Live", a concert at The Royal Albert Hall in which the late "

James Horner James Roy Horner (August 14, 1953 – June 22, 2015) was an American film composer. He worked on more than 160 film and television productions between 1978 and 2015. He was known for the integration of choral and electronic elements alongside tr ...

" made one of his last public appearances. Cook still orchestrates and arranges for studios in London and Los Angeles as well as composing for numerous events. He currently teaches music at The King’s School, Grantham in

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Influences

Cook is heavily inspired by the great film composers of the 20th Century, such as the late

Danny Elfman Daniel Robert Elfman (born May 29, 1953) is an American film composer, singer, songwriter, and musician. He came to prominence as the lead vocalist and primary songwriter for the new wave band Oingo Boingo in the early 1980s. Since scoring his ...

Jerry Goldsmith Jerrald King Goldsmith (February 10, 1929July 21, 2004) was an American composer, conductor and orchestrator with a career in film and television scoring that spanned nearly 50 years and over 200 productions, between 1954 and 2003. He was consid ...

and

John Williams John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (November 15, 2022)Classic Connection review, ''WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who w ...

. His composing technique, often emulates the orchestral style of Williams and his contemporaries.

Awards

*Jury Prize (2011) for "The Man Who Fell Out of Bed" *''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'' – Greatest Music Moment of the Year (2013)

Discography

*" Isles of Wonder" – The Music for the Opening Ceremony London 2012 Olympic Games (2012)

References

External links

Lincolnshireecho.co.ukSoundcloud.comYoungjournalistacademy.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, Christopher 1988 births Living people English classical composers English male classical composers English conductors (music) British male conductors (music) English film score composers English male film score composers Musicians from London People from Greenwich English television composers 2012 Summer Olympics 21st-century British composers 21st-century British conductors (music) 21st-century British male musicians