Eminence Symphony Orchestra

Last updated

Eminence Symphony Orchestra
Eminence.png
Eminence Symphony Orchestra logo
Background information
Origin Sydney, Australia
Genres Popular, film score, video game, new-age
Years active2003 (2003)–2017
Members Hiroaki Yura (Founder, Concertmaster; Violin)
Maestro Philip Chu (Conductor)
Kumiko Ito (Piano)
Minah Choe (Cello)
James Fortune (Flute)
Joshua Hill (Percussion)
Zane Banks (Guitar)
Past membersAyako Ishikawa (Violin)
Website twitter.com/EminenceOnline

The Eminence Symphony Orchestra founded in Sydney, Australia is an independent symphony orchestra which delves into the classical music featured in video games and anime, as well as film scores.

Contents

History

Eminence was founded in 2003 by a small group of friends, led by the virtuoso solo violinist Hiroaki Yura. The difference in the cultural backgrounds between these friends as well as their differing experiences and qualifications contributed to what would be their first concert.

Eminence focuses particularly on the music of notable Japanese video games and anime. The orchestra's vision is to "inject something bold, dynamic and fresh into classical music". Eminence wishes to "break down the barriers between the audience and the musicians, and to revive orchestra in today's society; particularly amongst youth".

While the trademark of Eminence is the symphony orchestra, the organisation also delves into smaller-based concerts featuring three to five musicians as well as small ensembles, branded differently under Eminence Artists. More recently, the orchestra has offered their services to a wide range of entertainment media such as video games and anime, including the recording of music for many notable game publishers and developers, and for a number of film scores. These services were initially provided through a Sydney-based business entity, Eminence Group Pty Ltd, while the orchestra continued to operate under its existing name.

Awareness of the Eminence brand increased over time, and many opportunities for performances, recording and production services arose in other countries, prompting offices to be established in USA and Japan.

This facilitated further work in those countries, particularly in Japan. Australia continues to be the home base for the orchestra, with the majority of recordings being performed in Sydney.

Meanwhile, Eminence Group Pty Ltd which represented Eminence Symphony Orchestra and its services through license was placed into voluntary liquidation with an appointed liquidator on 21 December 2010. A resolution to wind up the company was made on the same day. [1]

The Eminence Symphony Orchestra continues to operate through Eminence Artists in Australia, Creative Intelligence Arts, Inc. in Japan and Eminence Group North America in the United States of America.

Concerts and performances

A Night in Fantasia

Eminence's debut concert, A Night in Fantasia, was held on 31 October and 1 November 2003. It was born out of the idea that such an event had never been done before in Australia. The first of a series of concerts was mainly composed of music from Final Fantasy and Studio Ghibli films, and took place at Sydney Congress Hall with tickets that sold well before the night. The overall success as well as the enthusiastic support of the first concert proved a point to the organisers that such a concept of cultural music would appeal to a wide range of people. At this point the company running the concert was 'Infinity 8LUE', and the orchestra was the 'Infinity 8LUE Symphony Orchestra'.

A Night in Fantasia 2004

In 2004, the orchestra was fully formed, and held A Night in Fantasia 2004 at Verbrugghen Hall at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music on 30 and 31 October. William Motzing became the Chief Conductor and Artistic Director, Daniel Smith became the Assistant Conductor and Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu was a guest of honour at all four performances. This concert marked the name change for the orchestra, as they became known as the Eminence Symphony Orchestra. Infinity 8LUE was the company behind the concert, and shortly after finalised the name change by becoming Eminence.

A Night in Fantasia 2004 (Studio Ghibli Performance) (2004)
No.TitleLength
1."The Great Legend" (Laputa – The Castle in the Sky) 
2."Sophie's Tomorrow" (Howl's Moving Castle) 
3."Secret Garden" (Howl's Moving Castle) 
4."Cave of Mind" (Howl's Moving Castle) 
5."I'm so Glad" ( My Neighbor Totoro ) 
6."Legend of Ashitaka" (Princess Mononoke) 
7."Journey to the West" (Princess Mononoke) 
8."World of the Dead" (Princess Mononoke) 
9."The Boy of the Dragon" (Spirited Away) 
10."The River from that Day" (Spirited Away) 

Piano Stories

Alexey Yemtsov performed the first Piano Stories concert on 15 April, at Verbrugghen Hall. Featuring work from Studio Ghibli, Yoko Kanno and Shirō Sagisu, Piano Stories marked the beginning of a series of concerts celebrating piano scores from a selection of anime and gaming soundtracks.

World of John Williams

2005 saw Eminence present the World of John Williams concert, held on 8 July at Sydney Town Hall. Phillip Chu and Daniel Smith conducted the Eminence Symphony Orchestra and the Eminence Choir through performance featuring music from one of Hollywood's most recognised composers, John Williams. His work from Harry Potter , Schindler's List , Saving Private Ryan , Star Wars , E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial , Home Alone and Raiders of the Lost Ark was performed. Daniel Smith conducted the Australian Premiere of "Battle of the Heroes" (from Star Wars Episode III).

World of John Williams (2006)
No.TitleLength
1."Hedwig's Theme" ( Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone ) 
2."Harry's Wondrous World" (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone) 
3."Schindler's List Theme" (Schindler's List) 
4."Hymn to the Fallen" (Saving Private Ryan) 
5."Across the Stars" ( Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones ) 
6."Adventures on Earth" (E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial) 
7."Main Theme" ( Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope ) 
8."The Imperial March" (Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope) 
9."Throne Room & End Theme" (Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope) 
10."The Flag Parade" ( Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace ) 
11."Battle of the Heroes" ( Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith ) 
12."Main Theme" (Raiders of the Lost Ark) 
13."Duel of the Fates" (Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace) 

Piano Stories II

In the same year Piano Stories II was held at Verbrugghen Hall with Stuart Wright performing pieces from various popular culture video games and anime including Howl's Moving Castle , Kiki's Delivery Service , Voices of a Distant Star , Macross Plus and Noir . The Eminence Quartet also appeared on the night. The concert was held on 6 August at Verbrugghen Hall.

Destiny: The Dream Time Ensemble

Later on in 2005 Eminence presented Destiny: The Dream Time Ensemble. Held at Verbrugghen Hall and the National Theatre, This marked the debut of a performance outside of Sydney, as the city of Melbourne in Australia witnessed the 9 member elite chamber music ensemble group perform music from a variety of composers. These included Joe Hisaishi, Nobuo Uematsu, Michiru Oshima, Shirō Sagisu and Toshihiko Sahashi. The concert also marked the first time Eminence utilised footage from the original films, games and television serials in alongside the music. The members of Destiny were: Hiroaki Yura (Violin), Ayako Ishikawa (Violin), Christian Boennelykke (Viola), Kenichi Mizushima (Violoncello), Hanae Seto (Clarinet), James Fortune (Flute), Joshua Hill (Percussion), Chiron Meller (Percussion) and Jem Harding (Piano).

A Night in Fantasia 2005

A Night in Fantasia 2005 saw a large change in venue, this time to be held at the Sydney Town Hall. Philip Chu became Chief Conductor and the night's music programme also saw fresh changes (due to the work of the AV Director and co-producer) with the inclusion of many popular anime and video game titles including Final Fantasy VII , Kingdom Hearts , Metal Gear Solid , Neon Genesis Evangelion , Onimusha , Halo , Fruits Basket , Super Mario , The Legend of Zelda , Tsubasa Chronicle , Gran Turismo , InuYasha , Naruto , Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War and Rurouni Kenshin . The event wrote history by hosting the World Premiere of the World of Warcraft Suite, and again saw the use of footage from the original titles alongside the music. The concert featured the Eminence Choir which assisted the wider music selection greatly.

Piano Stories III

In 2006 Eminence brought the next chapter in the concert series Piano Stories. Featuring acclaimed pianist Alexey Yemtsov who had performed previously in the first Piano Stories, the night highlighted Studio Ghibli and Final Fantasy pieces. Special guest violinists Hiroaki Yura and Ayako Ishikawa were present, and was held on 15 April in Melbourne's National Theatre and on 22 April in Sydney's Verbrugghen Hall.

Spirited Away with Youmi

This concert was designed to run alongside A Night in Fantasia 2006. Spirited Away with Youmi was held on the same day as Melbourne's concert and also took place on 6 July in Sydney. Youmi Kimura performed songs from Spirited Away , Princess Mononoke and My Neighbor Totoro among others.

A Night in Fantasia 2006

A Night in Fantasia 2006 was held on 2 July in Melbourne Town Hall and 7 July in Sydney Town Hall. The concert featured music from Final Fantasy, Shadow of the Colossus and Studio Ghibli, and also welcomed special guest Youmi Kimura, the composer of both the Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle's ending themes. It also featured Hiroaki Yura on violin and Phillip Chu as conductor. The concert also premiered music from the newest addition to the Final Fantasy series, Final Fantasy XII and was the world's first symphonic concert to be accompanied by footage from Studio Ghibli films.

Piano Stories IV

Eminence's newest addition to the Piano Stories series featured pianist Krzysztof Malek performing pieces from a number of video game titles including Tetris , the Final Fantasy series, Xenogears , The Legend of Zelda and Kingdom Hearts II as well as a number of anime titles including Noir , My Neighbour Totoro, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya , Azumanga Daioh , Neon Genesis Evangelion, Fullmetal Alchemist and Gundam SEED Destiny . Eminence also announced a mystery guest artist that would appear alongside Krzysztof Malek, which would later be revealed to be Ayako Ishikawa on the violin. The Melbourne performance was part of the Manifest convention, and was held in Melba Hall within The University of Melbourne on 23 September. Sydney's concert took place in Verbrugghen Hall within the Sydney Conservatorium of Music on 14 October.

Passion

Eminence announced a new concert series that began in December featuring Ayako Ishikawa and Hiroaki Yura on violin and also featured Natalia Raspopova on piano, Joshua Hill on percussion and Zane Banks on the guitar. On their minisite for the concert, Eminence announced that they collaborated with Japanese video game composers Yasunori Mitsuda and Hitoshi Sakimoto, whose work was featured alongside other notable anime and video game titles. The concert was held in Melbourne on 9 December at the Merlyn Theatre, followed by Sydney on 16 December at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, finally ending with Eminence's debut Singapore concert on 23 December and was held at the Victoria Concert Hall. Yasunori Mitsuda was a special guest of honour for all three performances, and also played the bouzouki. Hitoshi Sakimoto also joined him as a guest, though only at the Sydney performance. The concert featured music from games such as Chrono Trigger , Chrono Cross , Vagrant Story , Final Fantasy XII, Xenosaga , Shadow of the Colossus and Super Mario Bros. The anime pieces came from a number of sources including Haibane Renmei , Tsubasa Chronicle and .hack//Liminality .

Passion (2007)
No.TitleLength
1."Is Kirite Burning Up?" ( Kirite ) 
2."Free Bird" (Haibane Renmei) 
3."Sakura" (Xenosaga II) 
4."Time's Scar" (Chrono Cross) 
5."In the Beach of Dreams – Another World" (Chrono Cross) 
6."Pain" (Xenosaga) 
7."Radical Dreamers" (Chrono Cross) 
8."Sailing to the World" (Sailing to the World) 
9."Ferris Wheel" (Colors of Life) 
10."Mai" (.hack//Liminality) 
11."The Sunlit Earth" (Shadow of the Colossus) 

A Night in Fantasia 2007: Symphonic Games Edition

First announced at their Passion concert, Eminence chose to split their annual concert series into two performances, the first of which solely focused on video games. The concerts took place at Sydney Town Hall on 20 and 21 April 2007, and the concert in Melbourne was performed in Hamer Hall on 27 April 2007.

Special guest composers included Hitoshi Sakimoto, Junichi Nakatsuru and Masaru Shiina, present at all of the concerts. Yoko Shimomura was also slated to appear at all concerts, but was prevented from attending the Melbourne concert for unknown reasons. In addition, Yasunori Mitsuda, Kow Otani and Shirō Hamaguchi joined the aforementioned composers as guests in both Sydney performances.

The concert featured music from Super Mario Bros. , Kingdom Hearts II , the Metal Gear Solid series, the Final Fantasy series, World of Warcraft , Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess , Shadow of the Colossus , Tales of Legendia , Xenosaga Episode 1 , Soulcalibur 3 , Odin Sphere , Legend of Mana and Deltora Quest , with "Time's Scar" from Chrono Cross featured as encores in both Sydney and Melbourne. However, "One Winged Angel" from Final Fantasy VII was played as an encore to the Sydney performances, while the Melbourne performance received a repeat of the Metal Gear Solid theme. The concert also included the Eminence Choir, who last performed in A Night in Fantasia 2005. In addition to video game music, a piece from Romeo x Juliet and one from Final Fantasy VII Advent Children was performed.

Destiny – Reunion

Accompanying the announcement of Ayako's Violin Recital, was Destiny – Reunion, a continuation of Destiny in 2005, performed on 28 July, including a brand new line up of music from some of the world's most famous video games and anime. Featuring Eminence founder, Hiroaki Yura among the musicians playing, the concert included never-before-heard arrangements exclusive to Destiny – Reunion.[ citation needed ]

Destiny: Dreamer's Alliance (2007)
No.TitleLength
1."Opening" ( Tsugunai: Atonement ) 
2."Main Theme" (Odin Sphere) 
3."Main Theme" (Romeo x Juliet) 
4."Hako no niwa" (Rakugaki Kingdom II | Graffiti Kingdom ) 
5."The Attic Library" (Odin Sphere) 
6."Tragedy" (Romeo x Juliet) 
7."Nocturne" (Kirite) 
8."Sailing to the World" (The Seventh Seal) 
9."Vigor" (Romeo x Juliet) 
10."Nephilim" (Xenosaga Episode I) 
11."Oath" (Romeo x Juliet) 
12."The Fall of Darkness" (Kirite) 
13."Dash" (Romeo x Juliet) 
14."Circle of Eternity" (Kirite) 
15."Radical Dreamers" (Chrono Cross) 
16."Duel of the Fates" (Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace) 

A Night in Fantasia 2007: Anime Edition

The second part of the concert series focused entirely on anime, and the programme given out at Passion indicated a 'late 2007' concert date for both Sydney and Melbourne. At the 2007 Symphonic Games Edition concert, questionnaires were handed out, one of which asked attendees to list music found in various anime that they would like to hear in the concert. In October, entertainment website IGN announced the date – two consecutive concerts would be held on 18 November in the Sir John Clancy Auditorium of the University of New South Wales. Both concerts would feature music from famous anime including: Neon Genesis Evangelion , Tsubasa Chronicle, Noir, Le Portrait de Petit Cossette , Xenosaga II, Porco Rosso, .hack//Liminality and Elfen Lied . Famous Japanese composer and music producer Yuki Kajiura was the special guest during the concert and participated in a question and answer session with the host. Pamphlets were then handed out, which detailed the next future concert of the Eminence Symphony Orchestra, Unearthing Eden.

Unearthing Eden ~The sounds of AINARU~

A follow-up on A Night in Fantasia 2007: Anime Edition, this performance was again a smaller-sized quintet, which featured a collaboration with Japanese composer, Kow Otani and Japanese singer AIKa. The concert was held in the Sydney Conservatorium of Music in Sydney for two days, but both days saw little audience in the performances.

A Night in Fantasia 2009

After two years without having performed a concert of the magnitude of A Night in Fantasia 2007: Symphonic Games Edition, Eminence announced in February on a teaser website their next event, A Night in Fantasia 2009. Performed on 26 September 2009, the concert was held only on one night in Sydney at the Sydney Entertainment Centre. Music featured included suites from DEATH NOTE , Princess Mononoke , My Neighbor Totoro and Laputa: Castle in the Sky . Full pieces performed included James Hannigan's Soviet March from Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3 , The Unsung War from Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War , Tonari Ni (Beside Me) from The Idolmaster composed by Go Shiina and performed by Chiaki Takahashi, and the world premiere of Dragon Age: Origins ending theme, I Am The One, sung by Aubrey Ashburn. The majority of the arrangements were created by AFRIKA composer Wataru Hokoyama. Other guests included Kow Otani and AIKA Tsuneoka, who performed a suite from Shadow of the Colossus , Inon Zur, Yasunori Mitsuda and Cris Velasco. [2]

Other performances

Australian PlayStation 3 media launch

On 22 February 2007, Sony held the Australian media launch for PlayStation 3 in Sydney. Announcing Sony's sponsorship of Eminence for A Night in Fantasia 2007: Symphonic Games Edition, the orchestra performed a piece from Final Fantasy XII and a piece from Shadow of the Colossus as part of the presentation.

Hillsong Conference

In July 2007, the Eminence Symphony Orchestra performed at the opening ceremony for the Hillsong Conference, an annual mid-year Christian conference held in Sydney, Australia.

Recordings

As well as performing concerts, the Eminence Symphony Orchestra has dedicated time for the recording of various pieces for anime and games.

Romeo x Juliet

In December 2006, Eminence recorded the solo instrumental music for the GONZO anime series Romeo x Juliet , which was composed by Hitoshi Sakimoto. The soundtrack was recorded at the Trackdown Scoring Stage at Fox Studios in Sydney. In January 2007, Eminence then recorded the full orchestral, string ensemble, chamber ensemble and more solo instrumentals for the anime series.

GrimGrimoire

Also in December 2006, solo instrumentals were recorded for the Vanillaware and Nippon Ichi PS2 game GrimGrimoire (グリムグリモア), which was to be composed by Hitoshi Sakimoto.

Deltora Quest (DS)

Eminence was once again working with Hitoshi Sakimoto in February 2007 for the recording of the Nintendo DS game, Deltora Quest , and adaptation to the anime based on Emily Rodda's children fantasy books Deltora series.

Opoona

In April 2007, Eminence took part in another recording with Hitoshi Sakimoto for ArtePiazza and Koei's Wii role-playing game Opoona .

Senjo no Valkyria: Gallian Chronicles

In August 2007, Eminence's participated in the recording of Sega's Senjou no Valkyria (aka Valkyria Chronicles ) for the PlayStation 3.

Odin Sphere

Also in August 2007, Eminence worked together with Hitoshi Sakimoto's company, Basiscape, to record Odin Sphere's original soundtrack.

The Tower of Druaga: The Aegis of Uruk

Based on the classic Namco Bandai game The Tower of Druaga , The Aegis of Uruk, a GONZO anime television series with its music composed by Hitoshi Sakimoto, had its music recorded with Eminence in February 2008.

Soulcalibur IV

In April 2008, Eminence recorded the orchestral music for the fourth Namco Bandai video game installment of the Soulcalibur series, Soulcalibur IV which was composed by Junichi Nakatsuru.

Diablo III

In June 2008, Eminence recorded the orchestral music used for the announcement and trailers for Blizzard Entertainment's Diablo III .

Echoes of War: The Music of Blizzard Entertainment

Coinciding with the recording of Diablo III, Eminence approached Blizzard Entertainment with the idea of releasing an album of orchestrated music from across Blizzard's gaming universe, including Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos , World of Warcraft , StarCraft and Diablo . Guest composers were commissioned to compose their own unique take on the original tracks of the games, including Japanese composers Kow Otani and Masaru Shiina, and also Russell Brower who is currently Head Director of Audio within Blizzard. The album also featured tracks from then-unreleased games such as StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty and Diablo III . Two packages were announced for the album: Legendary and Standard. The Legendary edition of the album featured two audio discs, a DVD with a documentary and featurette, a wide-format booklet and 9 exclusive art cards; while the Standard Edition solely consisted of the two audio discs. [3]

Makoto Shinkai Image Album "Promise"

Recorded by Eminence in 2009 and released by CoMix Wave Films, this CD features adaptations of music composed by Tenmon for the four animated films directed to date by Makoto Shinkai. It includes three songs from 5 Centimeters Per Second (including an instrumental version of "One More Time, One More Chance" by Masayoshi Yamazaki), six songs from The Place Promised in Our Early Days , two songs from Voices of a Distant Star , and two songs from She and Her Cat .

The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya

In 2009, Eminence recorded the soundtrack to the anime film The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya .

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nobuo Uematsu</span> Japanese composer and keyboardist (born 1959)

Nobuo Uematsu is a Japanese composer and keyboardist best known for his contributions to the Final Fantasy video game series by Square Enix. A self-taught musician, he began playing the piano at the age of twelve, with English singer-songwriter Elton John as one of his biggest influences.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yoko Shimomura</span> Japanese composer and pianist (born 1967)

Yoko Shimomura is a Japanese composer and pianist primarily known for her work in video games such as the Kingdom Hearts series. She graduated from the Osaka College of Music in 1988 and began working in the video game industry by joining Capcom the same year. She wrote music for several games there, including Final Fight, Street Fighter II, and The King of Dragons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hiroki Kikuta</span> Japanese composer and game designer (born 1962)

Hiroki Kikuta is a Japanese composer and game designer. His major works are Secret of Mana, Trials of Mana, Soukaigi, and Koudelka, for which he also acted as producer and concept designer. He has composed music for seven other games, and worked as a concept designer in addition to composer for the unreleased MMORPG Chou Bukyo Taisen. He became interested in music at an early age, but earned a degree in Religious Studies, Philosophy, and Cultural Anthropology from Kansai University. He spent the next few years working first as a manga illustrator, then as a composer for anime series, before coming to work for Square in 1991.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Hannigan</span> British composer

James Hannigan is a BAFTA Award winning composer, sound designer, producer, and conference founder. His composing credits include the bestselling, full-cast audio adaptations of Neil Gaiman's The Sandman; entries in the Harry Potter, Command & Conquer, Dead Space, Warhammer, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, RuneScape, Evil Genius, EA Sports and Theme Park video game series; Discworld, the Audie Award winning Alien dramas directed by Dirk Maggs (2016–2019), Unseen Academicals, BBC Radio 4's adaptations of Neil Gaiman’s Good Omens, Neverwhere, and more. His music has been heard in numerous television shows, such as the BBC's Top Gear, Amazon's The Grand Tour, Disney's The World According to Jeff Goldblum, BBC America's Primeval, and his other credits include Freelancer, Privateer 2: The Darkening, Space Hulk and other games, television shows, commercials and installations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hitoshi Sakimoto</span> Japanese composer (born 1969)

Hitoshi Sakimoto is a Japanese composer and sound producer. He is best known for scoring the video games Final Fantasy Tactics and Final Fantasy XII, though he has composed soundtracks for over 80 other games. Sakimoto first played music and video games in elementary school and began composing music professionally in 1988. He worked at the video game company Square from 1997 to 2002, leaving in order to found the music and sound production company Basiscape.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Symphonic Game Music Concerts</span>

The Symphonic Game Music Concerts are a series of award-winning orchestral video game music concerts first performed in 2003 at the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, Germany, notable for being the longest running and the first of their kind outside Japan. They are produced by Thomas Böcker and performed by various orchestras conducted by Andy Brick (2003–2007), Arnie Roth, Niklas Willén and Eckehard Stier.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jonne Valtonen</span> Musical artist

Jonne Valtonen is a Finnish composer, arranger and orchestrator. He is renowned for his contributions in the field of demoscene and tracker music, under the name Purple Motion, and with Future Crew.

Final Fantasy is a media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi and owned by Square Enix that includes video games, motion pictures, and other merchandise. The series began in 1987 as an eponymous role-playing video game developed by Square, spawning a video game series that became the central focus of the franchise. The music of the Final Fantasy series refers to the soundtracks of the Final Fantasy series of video games, as well as the surrounding medley of soundtrack, arranged, and compilation albums. The series' music ranges from very light background music to emotionally intense interweavings of character and situation leitmotifs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Video Games Live</span> Video game music concert series

Video Games Live (VGL) is a concert series created by Tommy Tallarico and Jack Wall. The concerts consist of segments of video game music performed by a live orchestra with video footage and synchronized lighting and effects, as well as several interactive segments with the audience. Incorporated in 2002, Video Games Live has performed over 500 shows internationally.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kow Otani</span> Japanese composer

Kow Otani is a Japanese composer. He is best known for creating the soundtracks for the Heisei Gamera trilogy, Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack, Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, and Shadow of the Colossus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Play! A Video Game Symphony</span>

PLAY! A Video Game Symphony was a concert series that featured music from video games performed by a live orchestra. The concerts from 2006 to 2010 were conducted by Arnie Roth. From 2010, Andy Brick took the position of principal conductor and music director. Play! was replaced by the Replay: Symphony of Heroes concert series.

The music of the video game Final Fantasy XII was composed primarily by Hitoshi Sakimoto. Additional music was provided by Masaharu Iwata and Hayato Matsuo, who also orchestrated the opening and ending themes. Former regular series composer Nobuo Uematsu's only work for this game was "Kiss Me Good-Bye", the theme song sung by Angela Aki. The Final Fantasy XII Original Soundtrack was released on four Compact Discs in 2006 by Aniplex. A sampling of tracks from the soundtrack was released as an album entitled Selections from Final Fantasy XII Original Soundtrack, and was released in 2006 by Tofu Records. Additionally, a promotional digital album titled The Best of Final Fantasy XII was released on the Japanese localization of iTunes for download only in 2006. "Kiss Me Good-Bye" was released by Epic Records as a single in 2006, and Symphonic Poem "Hope", the complete music from the game's end credits, was released by Hats Unlimited the same year. An abridged version of the latter piece, which originally accompanied a promotional video for the game, was included in the official soundtrack album. An album of piano arrangements, titled Piano Collections Final Fantasy XII, was released by Square Enix in 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sydney University Symphony Orchestra</span> Symphony orchestra in Australia

The Sydney University Symphony Orchestra (SUSO) is the premier orchestra on the main campus of the University of Sydney.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inon Zur</span> Israeli-American composer

Inon Zur is an Israeli-American composer of soundtracks for film, television, and video games. Throughout his career, he has composed music for dozens of video games, and other projects, including Dragon Age, EverQuest, Fallout, Prince of Persia, Star Trek, the Syberia series, and Starfield. Well-known film trailer music he's contributed to include Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, The Hobbit, and Avengers: Age of Ultron. He has received numerous nominations—including three BAFTAs—and has won a number of awards, which include: an Emmy Award and two Game Audio Network Guild Awards, the first in 2004 for Best Original Instrumental Track for Men of Valor and another in 2009 for Best Interactive Score for Crysis. Received two Hollywood Music in Media Awards in 2009 for Best Original Song for Dragon Age: Origins and in 2019 for Best Original Score/Song for The Elder Scrolls: Blades.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hiroaki Yura</span> Musical artist

Hiroaki Yura is a Japanese violinist, and the founder and artistic director of the Eminence Symphony Orchestra in Sydney, Australia. He was educated at The Scots College in Bellevue Hill. He is currently the CEO of Creative Intelligence Arts.

Hayato Matsuo is a Japanese music composer and orchestrator who primarily does work in video games and anime. He has worked on games such as Front Mission 3, Final Fantasy XII, the Shenmue series, Magic Knight Rayearth, and Hellsing Ultimate. He graduated from the Tokyo University of the Arts in 1991 and began working with composer Koichi Sugiyama as an assistant.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Video Game Orchestra</span> American video game music orchestra

Video Game Orchestra (VGO) is a Boston-based project that performs its own "rockestral" arrangements of video game music with a rock band, vocals, and orchestra. The project was created by Shota Nakama, a Boston-based producer from Okinawa, Japan. Comparative to the other existing major video game concert acts, which mostly focus on the pure orchestral performances, the rock band element is the core essence of the VGO. Their concerts are presented as a rock show with entertaining audience engagement and improvised solos.

Final Fantasy is a media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi and owned by Square Enix that includes video games, motion pictures, and other merchandise. The original Final Fantasy video game, published in 1987, is a role-playing video game developed by Square, spawning a video game series that became the central focus of the franchise. The primary composer of music for the main series was Nobuo Uematsu, who single-handedly composed the soundtracks for the first nine games, as well as directing the production of many of the soundtrack albums. Music for the spin-off series and main series games beginning with Final Fantasy X was created by a variety of composers including Masashi Hamauzu, Naoshi Mizuta, Hitoshi Sakimoto, and Kumi Tanioka, as well as many others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Böcker</span>

Thomas Böcker is a German producer. He is the founder of Merregnon Studios and creative director of his orchestral music projects Merregnon and Game Concerts.

Masaharu Iwata is a Japanese video game composer. In high school his musical projects included composing on a synthesizer and playing in a cover band. After graduating from high school he joined Bothtec as a composer. He composed the soundtrack to several games there, beginning with 1987's Bakusou Buggy Ippatsu Yarou. After Bothtec was merged into Quest Corporation, he left to become a freelance composer.

References

  1. "Eminence Group under external administration". Australian Security and Investments Commission. 21 January 2010. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011.
  2. "The Renewal of Eminence: A Night in Fantasia 2009 Report". OSV. 5 November 2009. Retrieved 15 February 2010.
  3. "WoW, Starcraft and Diablo: Together at Last". IGN. 27 October 2008. Archived from the original on 30 October 2008. Retrieved 27 October 2008.