He made history with his song “Baba Yetu,” winning the first Grammy ever awarded to a piece of music written for a video game (Civilization IV) — then made history again by winning the last ever Grammy for Best Classical Crossover Album (for Calling All Dawns). He followed that album up in 2014 with another fusion of world and classical music, The Drop That Contained the Sea, debuting at #1 on Billboard's classical charts, and premiering to a sold out audience at Carnegie Hall's Stern Auditorium.

Tin grew up in northern California, firmly grounded in classical music, but with a heavy musical wanderlust: playing in jazz combos, writing musicals for his classmates, and obsessively listening to '70s classic rock concept albums. As he got older he supplemented his formal training by studying the music and languages of different cultures, but also by immersing himself in the underground rave scene of '90s San Francisco. He did his undergraduate composition studies at Stanford and Oxford; then won a Fulbright Scholarship to study at the Royal College of Music in London, where he graduated at the head of his class.

He now lives and works in Santa Monica, where he serves as a Governor of the LA Chapter of the Recording Academy.