Chad Cannon

Biography

Chad Cannon is an American composer, violinist, and orchestrator, raised in Salt Lake City and educated at Harvard (violin and Japanese) and Juilliard (composition). He began his career as an assistant orchestrator for Conrad Pope on scores by Howard Shore and Alexandre Desplat, and has worked closely with composer Joe Hisaishi as lead orchestrator for Hisaishi's globally touring Studio Ghibli concerts. Cannon composed the score for the Oscar-winning documentary American Factory (2019), the Oscar-shortlisted Hidden Letters (2022, co-composed with vocalist Leona Lewis), and The Dating Game (2025), and received a News & Documentary Emmy nomination for Exposing Muybridge. He is now based in Pasadena, California.