Michael Whalen

Michael Whalen has built an expansive body of work as an Emmy-winning pianist and composer across jazz, classical, multiple strands of electronic music, and new age recordings, while also contributing to film scores, television themes, audiobook productions, and advertising spots. Much of the 1990s found him occupied with screen projects and initial solo releases, among them the 1996 ambient-electronic collection Nightscenes, after which he turned greater attention toward original classical writing. The following decade sustained his involvement with television documentaries such as the Nature series and yielded a range of solo albums that moved among instrumental piano works, electronic textures, and piano jazz. The 2006 release The Shadows of October presented compositions scored for clarinet quartet, string quartet, and solo clarinet accompanied by string orchestra. Throughout the 2010s Whalen maintained a steady schedule of album releases and additional compositional assignments while holding adjunct faculty positions at New York University’s Clive Davis Institute for Recorded Music and at City College. During 2022 he supplied music for the PBS series American Experience, issued the concert recording Live in Concert, assembled an EP of remixes drawn from his track “Across the World to Be with You,” and delivered the electronic album Imaginary Trains, shaped by the 1970s and 1980s recordings of acts such as Tangerine Dream.

Although born in New York, Whalen spent his formative years in Washington, D.C., performing with orchestras, bands, and experimental ensembles. His training took place at the Interlochen Center for the Arts, Berklee College of Music, New England Conservatory, and University of Maryland. In 1987 he relocated to New York City and began composing for television soundtracks and commercials, ultimately creating music for well over 2,000 spots that included award-winning campaigns for major automobile, soda, apparel, energy, and technology brands.

Whalen journeyed to the Czech Republic in 1995 to document a set of symphonic and chamber pieces titled Afraid of Thunder, performed by the Janácek Philharmonic conducted by Dennis Burkhr together with the chamber orchestra Music Amici. His further chamber output—much of it published and available for performance—has encompassed string-quartet pieces, a mixed octet, several works for string orchestra with soloists, and a commission for choir. At the same time he added main-title themes for prominent television networks, among them Good Morning America and The Oprah Winfrey Show, along with scores for television documentaries, some of which appeared on soundtrack albums such as Sea Power: A Global Journey (1993, Narada) and Forever Wild (1996, Narada). His score for Perfect Moment earned the Audience Award at the 1997 Utah Slamdance Film Festival. Whalen also kept issuing his own instrumental music: Nightscenes, released in 1996 by Hearts of Space Records, highlighted electronic works, while 1997’s North from Riverside featured his jazz ensemble Open Door. The Softest Touch, a solo-piano album, appeared on Max in 1999. The Border of Dusk, an atmospheric yet jazz-inflected electronic collection, came out on Koch in 2000; the same label issued 2001’s Mysterious Ways. Alchemy Records subsequently released his score for the television documentary series The Shape of Life in 2002 and his 2004 solo album Like Rain Through My Hands, which mirrored a period of personal upheaval. Narada followed in 2005 with My Secret Heart: Romantic Meditations for Ambient Piano. Valley Entertainment released his score for the 2005 documentary Slavery and the Making of America, while Whalen also put out one of his best-known solo albums, My Secret Heart, that same year. Recorded over two days at Manhattan’s Power Station (Studio A), the album contained the track “I Have Loved You for a Thousand Lifetimes,” which became recognized as a new-age romantic standard. In 2008 he received an Emmy Award for his contributions to America at a Crossroads (episode “Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience”). The EverSound label issued the 2010 compilation Dancing in Black & White: The Best of Michael Whalen.

Alongside his teaching and speaking engagements on digital copyright and music monetization, Whalen returned in 2015 with the crowdfunded album You Are My Home. Dream Cycle appeared on Soothe Your World/Valley in 2017. That year he also produced and arranged the Donald Trump protest song “Tiny Hands” with singer-songwriter Fiona Apple to mark the presidential inauguration and the Women’s March; posted on SoundCloud, the track spread rapidly online. Another collection of tranquil piano compositions, Kiss the Quiet, surfaced in 2018, though Whalen revisited his jazz orientation the following year on Michael Whalen & the Fire Brigade, which featured drummer Vinnie Colaiuta (Jing Chi), bassist Michael League (Snarky Puppy), and saxophonist Bob Magnuson. In 2019 he entered a label-imprint agreement with Real Music/myndstream, later acquired by Cutting Edge Group in Los Angeles. That July he released Cupid Blindfolded, a minimalist solo-piano set recorded at Windham Hill Records founder Will Ackerman’s private studio in Vermont. On November 1, 2019, Whalen assumed the roles of General Manager and Head of A&R for Real Music/myndstream.

Early in 2020 he issued Sacred Spaces, an album of textured electronics and dreamy melodies that had become his signature sound. His first duo recording with Malaysian multi-instrumentalist BlueMonk, Karmic Dreams, followed later that year. After recovering from illness that required major surgery, Whalen resurfaced in April 2021 with the instrumental fusion album Future Shock, released on his own label despite his continuing affiliation with myndstream; the project included bassist Tony Levin (King Crimson) and drummer Simon Phillips (Toto). He departed myndstream upon contract expiration in November 2021, having first overseen the release of myndstream Collection, Vol. 1, which gathered ambient music by Daniel Lanois, Mark Isham, Rick Wakeman, and others.

In April 2022 Whalen released the well-received electronic album Imaginary Trains, drawing inspiration from 1970s and 1980s German electronic groups such as Tangerine Dream and Kraftwerk. In July he issued Live in Concert, documenting his earlier livestreamed performance at EMEAPP (the Electronic Music Education and Preservation Project). Also in 2022 he put out an EP of remixes of his song “Across the World to Be with You,” featuring contributions from Simon Phillips, Bombay Dub Orchestra, and others. During this period he continued supplying score material, including music for the television series American Experience.