Jay Chattaway is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 composer

Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

 of film and television scores

Film score

A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film, forming part of the film's soundtrack, which also usually includes dialogue and sound effects...

. He is mainly known for his work as score composer for several Star Trek

Star Trek

Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...

 television series: Star Trek: The Next Generation

Star Trek: The Next Generation

Star Trek: The Next Generation is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry as part of the Star Trek franchise. Roddenberry, Rick Berman, and Michael Piller served as executive producers at different times throughout the production...

, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is a science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe...

, Star Trek: Voyager

Star Trek: Voyager

Star Trek: Voyager is a science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe. Set in the 24th century from the year 2371 through 2378, the series follows the adventures of the Starfleet vessel USS Voyager, which becomes stranded in the Delta Quadrant 70,000 light-years from Earth while...

, and Star Trek: Enterprise

Star Trek: Enterprise

Star Trek: Enterprise is a science fiction television series. It follows the adventures of humanity's first warp 5 starship, the Enterprise, ten years before the United Federation of Planets shown in previous Star Trek series was formed.Enterprise premiered on September 26, 2001...

. The simple flute melody he composed for the TNG episode "The Inner Light" has been re-arranged for full orchestra and remains his best known singular work.

Chattaway was born in Monongahela, Pennsylvania

Monongahela, Pennsylvania

Monongahela, colloquially called "Mon City," is a Third Class City in Washington County, Pennsylvania, United States and is part of the Pittsburgh Metro Area, located approximately south of the city proper. The population was 4,761 at the 2000 census...

 and studied music at West Virginia University

West Virginia University

West Virginia University is a public research university in Morgantown, West Virginia, USA. Other campuses include: West Virginia University at Parkersburg in Parkersburg; West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Montgomery; Potomac State College of West Virginia University in Keyser;...

. He was initiated into the Omicron Chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi

Kappa Kappa Psi

Kappa Kappa Psi is a fraternity for college and university band members. It was founded on November 27, 1919 at Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College in Stillwater, Oklahoma. William Scroggs, now regarded as the "Founder," together with "Mr. Kappa Kappa Psi" A...

 at West Virginia University on December 6, 1965, and is currently an alumni brother of the fraternity. He is also a proud alumni brother of Phi Mu Alpha, another music fraternity.

At WVU Jay was also a member of the Mountaineer marching band and Lambda Chi Alpha

Lambda Chi Alpha

Lambda Chi Alpha is one of the largest men's secret general fraternities in North America, having initiated more than 280,000 members and held chapters at more than 300 universities. It is a member of the North-American Interfraternity Conference and was founded by Warren A. Cole, while he was a...

 social fraternity. He and some other young men from the music school formed a rock band called the Abductors in which he played trumpet. Like most college bands at the time they mostly played covers of Top-40 songs. With a black lead singer and a strong horn section, the Abductors specialized in the works of such artists as James Brown and Wilson Pickett.

While a resident of the fraternity house, Jay would spend hours at the piano there working out his arrangements for the group's performances. With such input from him and the talent level of the other band members, The Abductors became one of the most popular and well-thought of bands playing parties and night clubs in the Morgantown area.

He was conscripted

Conscription

Conscription is the compulsory enlistment of people in some sort of national service, most often military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and continues in some countries to the present day under various names...

 into the military while working on his graduate degree and joined the Navy Band, serving as the unit's chief arranger

Arrangement

The American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents...

 and composer. After his discharge from the Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

, Chattaway moved to New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 to write music. He later moved to Los Angeles

Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...

 to compose for film.

Like his counterparts Brian May and Robert O. Ragland

Robert O. Ragland

Robert O. Ragland is an American film score composer.Ragland attended Northwestern University and also earned degrees at the Academy of Music in Vienna. He served as a music arranger for the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra in his early years.He turned to film music in 1968...

, Chattaway's film scores include music for cult film

Cult film

A cult film, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a highly devoted but specific group of fans. Often, cult movies have failed to achieve fame outside the small fanbases; however, there have been exceptions that have managed to gain fame among mainstream audiences...

s such as Maniac

Maniac (1980 film)

Maniac is a 1980 American slasher film , about a disturbed and traumatized serial killer who scalps his victims. It was directed by William Lustig and written by Joe Spinell and C. A. Rosenberg...

, Vigilante

Vigilante (film)

Vigilante is a 1983 film directed by William Lustig. It stars Robert Forster and Fred Williamson.-Plot:New York City factory worker Eddie Marino is a solid citizen and regular guy, until the day a sadistic street gang brutally assaults his wife and murders his child. But when a corrupt judge sets...

, The Last Fight, The Big Score, Walking the Edge

Walking the Edge

Walking the Edge is a 1983 crime film, action film written by Curt Allen and directed by Norbert Meisel. The film stars Robert Forster, Nancy Kwan, Joe Spinell, A Martinez, James McIntire, Wayne Woodson, Luis Contreras....

, The Rosebud Beach Hotel

The Rosebud Beach Hotel

-Taglines:"Where Sex and Laughter Run Riot""Make your reservation for an explosive time at ... The Rosebud Beach Hotel."-Plot:After taking over a failing Miami hotel with her workaholic fiance, Elliot , Tracy thinks model Monique Gabrielle has seduced her better half. She then tries to have an...

, Missing in Action

Missing in Action (film)

Missing in Action is a 1984 action B-movie directed by Joseph Zito and starring Chuck Norris. It is set in the context of the Vietnam War POW/MIA issue. Colonel Braddock, who escaped a Vietnamese prisoner of war camp 10 years earlier, returns to Vietnam to find American soldiers listed as missing...

, Home Free All, Invasion U.S.A.

Invasion U.S.A. (1985 film)

Invasion U.S.A. is a 1985 action film made by Cannon Films and starring Chuck Norris. It was directed by Joseph Zito. Both Chuck Norris and his brother, Aaron, were involved in the writing. It was made in Fort Pierce, Florida. Miami landmarks, such as Dadeland Mall and Miracle Mile, can also be...

, Silver Bullet

Silver Bullet (film)

Silver Bullet is a 1985 horror film based on the Stephen King novella Cycle of the Werewolf. It stars Gary Busey, Everett McGill, Megan Follows, Corey Haim, Terry O'Quinn, Lawrence Tierney, Bill Smitrovich, Kent Broadhurst, David Hart, and James Gammon...

, Braddock: Missing in Action III

Braddock: Missing in Action III

Braddock: Missing in Action III is a 1988 action/adventure film, and a sequel to Missing in Action, following the second film, Missing in Action 2: The Beginning, which was a prequel. It is the third and final film in the Missing in Action Trilogy. The film stars Chuck Norris, who co-wrote the...

, Maniac Cop

Maniac Cop

Maniac Cop is a 1988 action/horror film directed by William Lustig and written by Larry Cohen. The film spawned two sequels, Maniac Cop 2 and Maniac Cop III: Badge of Silence .-Synopsis:...

, Jakarta, Red Scorpion

Red Scorpion

Red Scorpion is a 1989 film directed by Joseph Zito starring Dolph Lundgren.-Plot:The plot centers on Lundgren's character Nikolai, a Soviet Spetsnaz-trained KGB agent who is sent to an African country where Soviet, Czechoslovakian and Cuban forces are helping the government fight an anti-communist...

, Relentless

Relentless (1989 film)

Relentless is a 1989 American crime film directed by William Lustig and starring Judd Nelson, Robert Loggia and Leo Rossi. The film follows two LAPD officers on a hunt for an ex-cop turned serial killer....

, Maniac Cop 2

Maniac Cop 2

Maniac Cop 2 is a 1990 American action horror film directed by William Lustig and written by Larry Cohen. It is the sequel to Maniac Cop and stars Robert Davi, Claudia Christian, Michael Lerner and Bruce Campbell.-Plot:...

, The Ambulance

The Ambulance

The Ambulance is a 1990 thriller film written and directed by Larry Cohen. It stars Eric Roberts, James Earl Jones, Janine Turner, Megan Gallagher, Red Buttons, and Eric Braeden as the Doctor. Kevin Hagen plays a cop in what would be his final film role...

, and Rich Girl

Rich Girl (film)

Rich Girl is a 1991 film that starred Jill Schoelen as 21-year-old Courtney, a wealthy girl from Bel-Air, California who wants to make it own her own...

.