Julian Keith GettyOBE (born 16 December 1974) is a Northern Irish Christian singer and songwriter, best known for writing the modern hymn "In Christ Alone" in 2001 with veteran songwriter and worship leader Stuart Townend. Getty and his wife Kristyn also release music under the musical duo Keith & Kristyn Getty
Early life
Getty was born in Lisburn, Northern Ireland, to Helen Getty (née Irwin) and John Getty. He is the eldest of four children.
Getty began making music at age 11, learning to play the classical guitar; at 12 years old he began playing the flute. During school, Getty was influenced by classical music, Irish music, and church music of all kinds. As a young adult, he studied music at St Chad's College, Durham University, graduating with his Bachelor of Arts in 1995.[1] As a student, Getty completed special conducting opportunities at the Canford Summer School of Music and the Tanglewood Music Center in Massachusetts. Getty participated in a summer master class under Irish flautist Sir James Galway.[2]
Personal life
Kristyn met Keith Getty in 2002 after being introduced by Kristyn's uncle, John Lennox. Kristyn was attending a nearby university and asked Getty for some musical advice. After dating for two years, the couple married on 16 June 2004. The couple have four children.
Keith and his wife Kristyn write and release hymns together.
Children's albums
Keith and Kristyn together have written and produced a number of children's worship albums.[citation needed]
2005: Songs That Jesus Said, a collection of songs for children
2016: Getty Kids Hymnal: In Christ Alone
2017: Getty Kids Hymnal: For the Cause
2018: Getty Kids Hymnal: Family Hymn Sing
2019: Getty Kids Hymnal: Family Carol Sing
2020: Evensong: Hymns and Lullabies at the Close of Day
Evensong: Hymns and Lullabies at the Close of Day went to Billboard number 1 in 2020.[3]
Orchestrator
In addition to his work with his wife as Keith & Kristyn Getty, Getty has also orchestrated or produced music for a number of other projects.[2] These include orchestrations for Michael W. Smith's 2004 Healing Rain album, McDonald's television commercials, and Silvascreen label movie soundtrack recordings Music from the Lord of the Rings Trilogy[4] and Once upon a Time: The Essential Ennio Morricone.[5] He wrote and produced the music for the 1998 C. S. Lewis International Centenary Celebrations.[6]
In 2001, Getty and Stuart Townend wrote the song "In Christ Alone" with the purpose of creating a modern hymn that would explain the life of Christ.[7] They released it on the Kingsway album New Irish Hymns, featuring vocalists Máire Brennan, Margaret Becker, and Joanne Hogg. The song gained popularity, and by 2005 it was named by a BBCSongs of Praise survey as the ninth best loved hymn of all time, and in their 2010 survey was named second best hymn of all time.[8] The British Hymn Society nominated "In Christ Alone" as one of the top five hymns of all time, and BBC One's "Songs of Praise" nominated "In Christ Alone" as a top 10 hymn in 2012.[9]
