Chris Walden (born October 10, 1966 in Hamburg, Germany) is a German composer, arranger, and conductor living in the U.S. He leads his own jazz big band, the Chris Walden Big Band, based in Los Angeles and was nominated four times for a Grammy award. He is probably best known for writing big band and orchestral arrangements for recording artists such as Michael Bolton, Christina Aguilera, Jennifer Hudson, Paul Anka, and Christopher Cross. He has been an arranger for "American Idol" since 2007 and has worked for producers like David Foster, Phil Ramone, and Tommy LiPuma.