A native of Utah, Alden moved to Manhattan in 1997 to attend the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University where he earned an MFA in Musical Theatre Writing. Alden has been a freelance musician for many years, performing for ballet, theater, opera and dance. His compositions have been commissioned and performed by the Intermountain Chamber Orchestra, the Salt Lake Men's Choir, Contemporary Music Consortium, Utah Flute Association and various theater companies. His film work includes additional music for the video Seasons of the Heart, the feature film Mercy Street and the short Three Things I’ve Learned, which played at Sundance in 1994. Since moving to New York, he has composed music for the Second Avenue Dance Company and for the Design and Choreographers concert at the Tisch School of the Arts. His one-act musical, CindeRelativity (with book and lyrics by John Herin) was performed at The Hudson Guild Theater and at Dixon Place as part of the "Not for Broadway" festival. He has done orchestrations for the benefit Nothing Like a Dame 2000 on Broadway, for Seduction (conceived and directed by Chet Walker) and for Paul Newman’s Hole in the Wall Gang Camp gala benefits. His orchestrations were also featured in Theatre Virginia’s production of A Wonderful Life and the Barkesdale Theatre Company’s production of Carousel, directed by Jack Cummings III. Alden has performed for several off-Broadway shows, including After the Fair, Stars In Your Eyes and Godspell, as well as for The Harlot’s Progress, a puppet show which was featured in the Jim Henson festival in New York and the Fin du Ciecle festival in Nantes, France. He is currently the bass player and assistant musical director for Menopause, The Musical.