Roc Chen (Chinese: 陈鲲; pinyin: Chén Kūn (born 1984^[1]), also named Chen Kun, is a Chinese composer and a member of the Chinese Musicians Association. Born in Chengdu, Sichuan, he is best known for composing the scores for the documentary A Bite of China,^[2] the TV series Red Sorghum, for the film series The Wandering Earth^[3] and the blockbuster film Ne Zha 2.^[4]

Chen spent part of his childhood in Zigong. He began studying music at the age of four. ^[5] He later attended the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China and the Sichuan Conservatory of Music, where he earned a master's degree in composition. He also studied under the composer Professor Song Mingzhu.^[6] In 2022, he served as an award presenter at the closing ceremony and awards ceremony of the 17th Changchun Film Festival in China. In 2023, the Chengdu World Science Fiction Convention appointed him as the promotional ambassador.^[7]

Roc Chen's work in film and television is characterised by a fusion of traditional Chinese musical elements with modern orchestral techniques. In television scoring, his work on the series Red Sorghum is notable for its incorporation of the suona, a traditional Chinese wind instrument with a distinctively piercing tone.^[8] In the science fiction film The Wandering Earth, Chen collaborated with the British Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and recorded the score at the Abbey Road Studios, formerly the EMI Recording Studios, in London.^[9]

In the film Ne Zha 2, Chen blended modern cinematic scoring with traditional sounds of Tuvan throat singing (Khoomei) alongside classical Chinese instruments such as the two-stringed erhu and ceramic xun for a distinctively Chinese modern soundtrack.^[10]

Chen's mother was an English teacher at Shuguang Middle School. He has one daughter.^[11]

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