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Michael Whalen
Michael Whalen
Born	December 2, 1965 (age 59); New York City, New York, United States[citation needed]
Genres	Film scores; Jingles;
Occupation	Composer
Website	www.michaelwhalen.com

Michael Whalen (born December 2, 1965) is a composer of over 650 television and film scores and thousands of advertising jingles. He has won two Emmy Awards and his works are featured in places from TV shows to audiobooks. Projects include the 2011 human trafficking film Cargo and short films for Disney. As a recording artist and producer, his solo piano recording "All the Things I Could Not Say" was released in 2013, and he performs in NYC frequently, where he is an adjunct professor at The City College of New York, and the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. Whalen is represented and published by Warner/Chappell Music.^[1]^[2]

Early life

Michael was born in Long Island, NY,^{[citation needed]} to author, columnist, economist, Presidential adviser and lobbyist Richard J. Whalen and art dealer and author Joan M. Whalen. The family moved to Washington, D.C. when he was two years old.

Whalen started playing the piano at the age of three, and began formal lessons on drums when he was five. Influenced by rock, progressive music, early "ambient" music and fusion, he experimented with many different styles of music into his teens. In the summer of 1980, Whalen found himself playing percussion with the Maryland all-state orchestra, second keyboards in a well known Washington "Go-Go" band, and drums in a garage-style punk band. In the fall of 1980, he went to boarding school for high school at St. Andrew's School in Middletown, Delaware. During high school, Whalen wrote his first music, switched his primary instrument from percussion to keyboards, and made his first studio recordings and first self produced recordings on a cassette 4-track machine. In 1982, he produced and released his first "single" with singer/songwriter and guitarist Jim Steed. ^{[citation needed]}

In May 1987, Whalen attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston (from 1984 - 1985) and the University of Maryland/College Park (1985 - 1987) and moved to New York City. After recording hundreds of tracks in his 8-track basement studio and throughout the Washington-metro area, Whalen moved to New York City.^[3]

Career

Michael's first job was working at Elias Associates (later it was called Elias Arts) as an assistant. Elias was one of the busiest music production companies in the world in the 1980s and 1990s, and Whalen immersed himself in the state-of-the-art technology available in the studios at Elias at night. Their studios featured the Synclavier Digital Audio System which became a huge part of Whalen's later career. It was at Elias that Whalen did his first sound design and composition of national advertisements (Pepsi, Coca-Cola, BMW, Nutrasweet, IBM, Ford and many others). He also had an opportunity to work with recording artists Duran Duran, John Waite and Glamour Camp as assistant, programmer and sound designer. ^{[citation needed]}

Working for many of the top music companies, Whalen did many hundreds of commercials from 1989 to 1995. In 1990, Michael scored his first major television series entitled "Childhood" which was broadcast on PBS in the United States. This was the first of nearly 70 multi-part series he has composed music for and the first of the nearly 600-plus television shows he has worked on. In 1995, Whalen opened his own music production company, Michael Whalen Music, LTD. During these years, Whalen scored dozens of films for National Geographic, Discovery, The History Channel, ESPN, PBS and many others. In 1997, he won his first Emmy award for his work on HBO's "How Do You Spell God?" In 1998, Whalen wrote the theme for ABC News' "Good Morning America".^[4] In 1998, he moved to the suburbs of Boston where he built a new studio in his attic.^{[citation needed]}

2000 to present

In 2002, Whalen was an associate professor at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. He completed work on the soundtrack for the film Veronika Decides to Die starring Sarah Michelle Gellar in 2008. While living in New York City, he was appointed as an adjunct lecturer at City College of New York in January 2009. Also in 2009, Whalen became an adjunct professor at the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music at New York University in June 2009. The piano solo "My Linda," from his album Dancing In Black & White, provided the introductory music for all 12 volumes of Anthony Powell's A Dance to the Music of Time^[5] as recorded by Simon Vance for Audible Modern Vanguard.

In 2009, Whalen released his first EP featuring him as a vocalist, titled The Road of Ghosts.^[6]

In 2017, Whalen produced "Tiny Hands", a protest song written for the Inauguration of Donald Trump and the Women's March on Washington and performed by Fiona Apple.

Selected discography

Mike Whalen/Jim Steed "Get a Little Closer/Don't Let Go" (Single) [Artist, Producer, Composer] 1984 Patch Records
Michael Whalen "Sea Power: A Global Journey" (Soundtrack)[Artist, Producer, Composer] 1993 Narada Cinema
Michael Whalen "Phantom of the Forest" (Soundtrack) [Artist, Producer, Composer] 1994 Narada Cinema
Michael Whalen "Great African Moments" (Soundtrack) [Artist, Producer, Composer] 1994 Narada Cinema
VARIOUS "Christmas Blessings" (Holiday Compilation)[Artist, Producer, Arranger] 1995 Narada
David Arkenstone "Quest of the Dream Warrior" [Producer, Arranger, Conductor] 1995 Narada
Michael Whalen "Forever Wild" (Soundtrack) [Artist, Producer, Composer] 1996 Narada
Michael Whalen "Night Scenes" [Artist, Producer, Composer] 1996 Hearts of Space
Michael Whalen "Afraid of Thunder" [Artist, Producer, Composer] 1996 Helicon Classical
Jim Brickman "Picture This" [Producer, Arranger] 1997 Windham Hill
Open Door "North From Riverside" [Artist, Producer, Composer] 1997 Helicon Jazz
VARIOUS "Songs Without Words" (Collection) [Artist, Producer, Composer] 1997 Windham Hill
VARIOUS "Grand Piano" (Compilation)[Artist, Producer, Composer] 1998 Narada
Michael Whalen "Titanic: Anatomy of a Disaster" [Artist, Producer, Composer] 1998 Centaur Records
VARIOUS "Poké Mon: 2 B A Master" (Soundtrack) [Composer, Producer] 1999 Koch/4 Kids
Michael Whalen "The Softest Touch" [Artist, Producer, Composer] 1999 EverSound
Michael Whalen "The Shadows of October" [Composer, Executive Producer] 1999 Arabesque Classical
VARIOUS "Tidings of Joy" [Artist, Producer, Composer] 1999 EverSound
Michael Whalen "The Border of Dusk" [Artist, Producer, Composer] 2000 Koch Jazz
VARIOUS "Reel Life: the private music of film composers" (Collection) [Executive Producer] 2000 Arabesque Classical
Jim Steed "Til' I Found You" [Composer, Producer, Arranger] 2000 JSM
Michael Whalen "Lost Liners" (Soundtrack) [Artist, Producer, Composer] 2000 MWM/Orchard
Michael Whalen "Mysterious Ways"[Artist, Producer, Composer] 2001 Koch Jazz
VARIOUS "Rare Requests: Volume 2" (Compilation) [Artist, Producer, Composer] 2001 Q/Atlantic
VARIOUS "20 Years of Narada Piano" (Compilation) [Artist, Producer, Composer] 2001 Narada/EMI
VARIOUS "Yu-Gi-Oh: Music to Duel By" (Soundtrack) [Artist, Producer, Composer] 2002 Koch/4 Kids
Michael Whalen "The Shape of Life" (Soundtrack)[Artist, Producer, Composer] 2002 Alchemy
VARIOUS "Earth Songs/Precious Waters" (Artist, Producer, Composer) 2003 Narada
Michael Whalen "Night Scenes" [re-issue][Artist, Producer, Composer] 2003 Alchemy
Michael Whalen "From Conception to Birth" (Soundtrack)[Artist, Producer, Composer] 2004 Valley/Cherry Lane
Michael Whalen "Like Rain Through My Hands" [Artist, Producer, Composer] 2004 MWM/Orchard
Jon Durant "Things Behind the Sun" [Musician] 2004 Alchemy
Michael Whalen "Jazzworks Volume 1" (Collection) [Artist, Producer, Composer] 2004 MWM/Orchard
Michael Whalen "Slavery and the Making of America" (Soundtrack) [Artist, Producer, Composer] 2005 Valley Entertainment
Michael Whalen "My Secret Heart" [Artist, Producer, Composer] 2005 Narada
Michael Whalen "Music for the Natural World" (Collection) [Artist, Producer, Composer] 2005 MWM
Michael Whalen "Lullabies for Grown-ups" (Collection) [Artist, Producer, Composer] 2005 MWM
Jim Steed "Fall" (EP) [Composer, Producer] 2007 Jim Steed Music
Michael Whalen "The Other Coast"[Artist, Producer, Composer] 2007 MWM/Spout
Andiamo "Love, From Italy" (Soundtrack) [Composer, Producer, Arranger] 2007 Denon Classical
Michael Whalen "The Road of Ghosts" (EP) [Artist, Producer, Songwriter] 2009 MWM/Spout
Kristin Hoffman "The Waking" (EP) [Composer, Producer, Arranger] 2009 KHM
Michael Whalen "Dancing in Black and White:The Best of Michael Whalen" (Compilation) [Artist, Producer, Composer] 2010 EverSound
Michael Whalen "Lights Along the Highway" [Composer, Producer, Conductor] 2010 Arabesque Classical
Supa' K "Fun Fun Fun Fun Fun with Supa' K" "Producer, Co-Composer" 2011 Orchard Children's Music
Michael Whalen "The Sea of Tranquility" [Artist, Producer, Composer] 2012 MWM/Spout
Michael Whalen "All The Things I Wanted To Say" [Artist, Producer, Composer] 2014 MWM/Spout
Bala Brothers "Bala Brothers" (Soundtrack) "Producer, Arranger" 2015 Parlaphone
Michael Whalen "You Are My Home" [Artist, Producer, Composer] 2015 MWM/Spout
Azure "Je Réve" [single] [Artist, Producer, Composer] 2016
Michael Whalen "Dream Cycle" [Artist, Producer, Composer] 2017 Valley Entertainment
Michael Whalen "Kiss The Quiet" [Artist, Producer, Composer] 2018 MWM/Spout
Michael Whalen "Cupid Blindfolded" [Artist, Producer, Composer] 2019 Solace/Real Music
Michael Whalen "Sacred Spaces" [Artist, Producer, Composer] 2020 Solace/myndstream
BlueMonk/Michael Whalen "Karmic Dreams" [Artist, Producer, Co-Composer] 2020 Solace/myndstream
Michael Whalen "Future Shock" [Artist, Producer, Composer] 2021 MWM/Spout
Michael Whalen "Imaginary Trains" [Artist, Producer, Composer] 2022 MWM/Spout
Michael Whalen "Our April Tigers" [Artist, Producer, Composer] 2022 MWM/Spout
Michael Whalen "Walk in Beauty, Like the Night" [Artist, Producer, Composer] 2023 MWM/Spout
Michael Whalen "Brokenhearted Lopsided Blues" [Artist, Producer, Composer] 2024 MWM/Spout
Michael Whalen "Watercolor Sky" [Artist, Producer, Composer] 2024 MWM/Spout