Bio
Brad Ritchie is an Emmy Award-winning orchestrator, composer, and arranger who maintains an active career in both the commercial and concert worlds.
In film and television, Ritchie works as an orchestrator for numerous composers. His orchestrations and arrangements have been recorded by A-list studio ensembles like the Hollywood Studio Symphony and the London Symphony Orchestra and heard in many hit films, television shows, and video games.
On the concert stage, Ritchie’s arrangements have been performed across the United States by orchestras including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Louisville Orchestra and many more. His works are also being presented internationally.
Brad is also a highly sought-after music engraver for the stage and screen, providing music preparation services for clients in all mediums. He has done editing and engraving work as a contractor for publishers, including G. Schirmer and Subito Music.
A native of Louisville, Kentucky, Ritchie earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Louisville and his graduate degree at the University of Southern California in its prestigious Scoring for Motion Picture and Television program. There, he worked with and learned from some of the industry’s leading composers and industry veterans. Currently Brad is an adjunct professor at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University in their Music Scoring for Visual Media department. There he designed and teaches an 8 week course on modern film and TV orchestration workflow techniques.
Brad resides primarily in Southern Indiana with his wife and their two children. He divides his time between his studio at home and traveling across the country and abroad wherever the music takes him.
Film/TV
Brad has a unique viewpoint on his work in the film and TV world. He has often been heard saying “I got accepted to USC and went to one of the best programs in the world to learn to be a film composer and my number one lesson I learned?….I didn’t want to be a film composer!”
Instead, Brad realized his favorite place to be was part of a team, lending his skills to help get other composer’s music on the stands and into the world. He does this by working as both an orchestrator and music preparation specialist (or often, both!). Brad can use his skills and speed to meet the craziest of turnarounds when needed. Since credits can speak louder than words, please click the link to his IMDb page to see an up-to-date list of what he’s been working on.
Arranging
The other arena where Brad spends most of his time is working on arrangements for pops orchestras. “If I could have my way I would go back in time and take Paul Buckmaster’s job as Elton John’s orchestrator/arranger.” Brad’s arrangements have been played by some of the best orchestras in the world. He specializes in combining popular music and orchestra or using his film/TV orchestration skills to write pops charts that have that epic feel to them. In addition to many one-off charts, Brad has written complete touring shows featuring the music of The Beatles, The Beach Boys, The Eagles, classic rock, bluegrass, hip-hop and many other genres. To peruse Brad’s arrangements visit his online publishing sites on either SheetMusicPlus or SheetMusicDirect.
If you are interested in commissioning a new arrangement or discussing a project you have in mind, please use the contact form.