Christopher Cross is an American singer-songwriter from San Antonio, Texas. He won five Grammy Awards for his eponymous debut album released in 1979. The singles "Sailing" (1980), and "Arthur's Theme " peaked at number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. "Sailing" earned three Grammys in 1981, while "Arthur's Theme" won the Oscar for Best Original Song in 1981.
Hayley Dee Westenra is a New Zealand classical crossover singer and songwriter. Her first internationally released album, Pure, reached number one on the UK classical charts in 2003 and has sold more than two million copies worldwide, making it one of the fastest selling albums in her country's history.
Sharon Isbin is a classical guitarist and the founding director of the guitar department at the Juilliard School.
Dulce José Silva Pontes is a Portuguese songwriter and singer who performs in many musical styles, including pop, folk, and classical music. She is usually defined as a world music artist. Her songs contributed to the 1990s revival of Portuguese urban folk music called fado.
Civilization IV is a 4X turn-based strategy computer game and the fourth installment of the Civilization series, and designed by Soren Johnson under the direction of Sid Meier and his video game development studio Firaxis Games. It was released in North America, Europe, and Australia, between October 25 and November 4, 2005, and followed by Civilization V.
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.
Christopher Chiyan Tin is an American composer of art music, often composed for film and video game soundtracks. His work is primarily orchestral and choral, often with a world music influence. He won two Grammy Awards for his classical crossover album Calling All Dawns.
"Baba Yetu" is the theme song for the 2005 video game Civilization IV. It was composed by Christopher Tin and performed by Ron Ragin and the Stanford Talisman. For its re-release in Tin's debut album Calling All Dawns, it was performed by the Soweto Gospel Choir. The song, when rereleased, became the first piece of video game music to be nominated for and to win a Grammy Award.
Angel City Chorale (ACC) is a Los Angeles choir conducted by founder and artistic director Sue Fink.
All Angels were a British classical crossover group formed in 2006, consisting of Daisy Chute, Laura Wright, Rachel Fabri, Melanie Nakhla and actress Charlotte Ritchie.
The Soweto Gospel Choir is a South African gospel group.
Stanford Talisman is a student a cappella group at Stanford University, dedicated to sharing stories through music. Started in 1990 by Stanford student Joseph Pigato, their roots are in music from South Africa and the African diaspora, but they have since broadened their horizons to include music from all over the world. They perform not only locally in the greater San Francisco Bay Area but also around the world. Their most recent tour was to Mumbai and Udaipur, India, in spring of 2019. The group has also traveled to South Africa (2016) and Hawai'i (2018). The group won the 1997 ICCA competition and notable performances include the 1996 Olympic Games, the White House, with 10-time Grammy award winner Bobby McFerrin in 2005 and 2019, with Seal in 2009, with Joan Baez in 2019, annually at Stanford Graduation Baccalaureate, and their sold-out 25th Anniversary Show in Bing Concert Hall in 2015.
Jia Ruhan is a Chinese soprano who performs in plays, as well as in opera, musicals, films, and solo recitals. She was born in Shijiazhuang and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music.
The Texas Tenors are a three-time Emmy Award-winning classical crossover, trio vocal group formed in 2009 by country singer JC Fisher, classical singer Marcus Collins and opera singer John Hagen. They were a top four finalist in the fourth season of America's Got Talent, making them the highest ranking vocal group in the show's history.
Lucas Richman is an American composer and conductor. He has conducted several film score soundtracks, including: As Good as It Gets, Se7en, The Manchurian Candidate, and The Village. In addition to his recording and film work, Richman has been serving, since 2010, as the music director of the Bangor Symphony Orchestra in Bangor, Maine. His niece is actress Julia Lester.
To Shiver the Sky is the third studio album by the American composer Christopher Tin. Released in 2020, it features texts about the history of flight ranging from Leonardo da Vinci's writings on flight to John F. Kennedy's "We choose to go to the Moon" speech.
Jillian Aversa is an American vocalist and composer best known for her contributions to video game soundtracks, YouTube music videos, and as a soloist with the international concert tour Video Games Live. In addition to her performances of video game music, she is a composer of contemporary New Age/World music and has released several solo albums. Her music video performances have received news coverage in Polygon, Wired, Nerdist, and Game Informer.
Bill Hare is an American Grammy Award-winning audio engineer known for pioneering contemporary recording techniques in a cappella. He was the first to record voices individually, and the first to mic singers exactly as one would mic instruments. Over the course of his career, Hare has become well known for his outsize role in shaping the sound of recorded a cappella. Industry observers have called him the "patriarch" and "the Dr. Dre" of a cappella recording. Deke Sharon, founder and longtime president of the Contemporary A Cappella Society, wrote of Hare's influence in 2018: "The sound of contemporary recorded a cappella owes more to his technique, style, and pioneering than any other person."
The Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Video Games and Other Interactive Media was first presented at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards held in February 2023. The award was introduced to recognize the impact of music specifically written for video games and other interactive media. This is a sister category to the Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media, which previously honored scores written for film, television and video games, though Journey in 2013 was the only game ever nominated.
