Manchester based composer Katie Chatburn trained at the Royal Academy of Music followed by an MMus at the Royal Northern College of Music. In 2016 she was awarded the Associate of the Royal Academy of Music for her work within the music industry. She works as a professional composer, arranger, orchestrator and community workshop leader, specialising in the fields of film music, community sound arts therapy, instrumental concert commissions and rock and pop string arranging.
In 2017 Katie formed Ignition Orchestra as conductor and arranger. Following their debut at Liverpool International Festival, the orchestra has performed to sell out audiences at venues including The Barbican and Eventim Apollo and The Royal Albert Hall as part of the Garage Classical project. The project signed to Sony, releasing Garage Classical the album in 2019 featuring artists including Paloma Faith, Lily Allen, Raleigh Ritchie and Emeli Sande. In July 2019 Ignition Orchestra performed as part of the 3 Beat 50th anniversary concert at LIMF Festival alongside Sigma, M22 and Geko. Katie has worked on arrangements for a range of UK orchestras including the BBC Concert Orchestra and Chineke Orchestra and for artists including including Aloe Blacc, Ella Henderson, Shaznay Lewis, Lady Blackbird, Imogen Heap, Neil Hannon (Divine Comedy), Marillion and Essie Jain. Katie has album credits for arrangements undertaken for Rough Trade and Jeepster records and works regularly with artists from the prestigious Liverpool International Festival Academy.
Credits for arrangements and orchestrations include work for the BBC, Channel 4 and ITV, including orchestration for dramas including Endeavour and Victoria and original music for Radio 4 plays including the critically acclaimed Hunting of the Snark featuring Tony Robinson. Work on feature films includes orchestration and arranging work for Scott-Free production Labyrinth, The Next Human, This Beautiful Fantastic and Guy Ritchie’s The Man from UNCLE. Katie worked in the music department at Abbey Road for the Bond films Skyfall and Spectre assisting Global Music.
Sound Arts Therapy sessions in Greater Manchester, 2023-24.
Katie is passionate about community outreach work and has delivered workshops across different sectors of the community for Opera North, Liverpool Philharmonic, Manchester Camerata, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital and Music for Youth. She was awarded a Diploma in Sound Arts Therapy by the British Academy of Sound Therapy in 2023 and is currently developing her practice within this field. She was Artistic Director for Brighter Sound’s ‘Manchester Hill’ programme and composer/conductor on the city wide Peterloo events programme. As an academic and writer, Katie compiled a leading music publication for Bloomsbury Press The Musicians and Songwriters Yearbook and has contributed articles to various other academic music publications. She co-wrote the Royal Northern College of Music Popular Music degree on which she lectures part time on film music and composition. Katie has been invited to speak at conferences on Music and Sound Studies internationally and works as a consultant for ABRSM currently developing their popular music curriculum. Katie was awarded a Leverhulme Trust PhD scholarship to investigate the impact of sound within the city environment.