Joanne Hogg | |
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 Joanne Hogg during a 2010 Iona concert | |
| Background information | |
| Occupation(s) | Musician |
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Joanne Hogg is a Northern Irish musician, best known for her work as the lead singer and songwriter with the Celtic Christian progressive rock and pop band Iona (named after the island Iona). [1]
Hogg was born in Ballymena to a family of medical missionaries. [2] Her father is a Presbyterian minister, her mother a nurse; her family also includes three sisters and two brothers. With medicine strong in the family, it was natural for Hogg to become a doctor and she studied medicine at Queen's University Belfast. In her third year, Hogg was singing at the Christian Artists talent event and was convinced to sing in a school ministry at Youth for Christ in Denmark. After a year, Hogg got married and returned to university to complete her two remaining years of schooling. [2]
After graduating, Hogg interned as a junior doctor at Belfast City Hospital to complete her registration. Six months into working at the hospital, she was taken ill and stopped working for seven months to recover; [2] after recovering, she completed her registration as a doctor, but was advised on medical grounds not to continue in full-time medical work for a year.
During her convalescence, she had been contacted by Dave Bainbridge and Dave Fitzgerald, who had considered forming a band. In 1989, Hogg ceased practising medicine, and Iona was born. [3] Since then, Hogg has sung all over Europe and America. Iona's recordings have become successful worldwide, making them Europe's best-selling contemporary Christian band. [4]
Hogg recorded her first solo album in 1999, entitled Looking into Light . The tracks that feature on this album are a selection of re-arranged traditional hymns, with Iona providing the instrumental melodies. In 2001, Hogg collaborated with vocalists Máire Brennan and Margaret Becker for the release New Irish Hymns . [5] There have been a further three volumes of the New Irish Hymns series of albums involving other vocals. Iona also provided the instrumentals.
In 2008, Hogg released two solo albums, Raphael's Journey and Personal. [5] Raphael's Journey is available only as a download and features friend Moya Brennan of Clannad. The album is available only through Kingsway Music UK. Hogg, in her personal press release, says:
Musically, this album is a collection of songs with a few instrumentals. Frank Van Essen has been working with me on this for several years not only as producer, but also co-writing and playing. There are beautiful performances from all my mates in Iona, gorgeous string arrangements from Frank, beautiful guest vocals from the amazing Moya Brennan and piano and vocals from myself......so, please download it and tell others about it."
Her Personal album was also released with a press release by Hogg, "to give fans the true story of the album".
Her vocals were further featured in the 1998 PlayStation role-playing video game Xenogears . [1] Composed by Yasunori Mitsuda, the ending-theme song "Small Two of Pieces", along with an extra track "Stars of Tears" (not featured in the game) were recorded. Mitsuda also invited her to record the vocal themes for the spiritual sequel to Xenogears, Xenosaga: Episode One released four years later in 2002. Two tracks were recorded for this game: the ending-theme "Kokoro", and the song "Pain", which plays during the final cutscene of the game. Soundtracks were released for both of these videogames on the Digicube label. The song "Kokoro" was also released as a CD single. Hogg's vocals were not featured in any of the later Xenosaga releases, as Yasunori Mitsuda was replaced with Yuki Kajiura as the game's musical composer. Hogg later returned to the Xeno series with the release of Xenoblade Chronicles 3: Future Redeemed , for which she performed the ending theme, "Future Awaits", again composed by Mitsuda.
Hogg has won the Classic Rock Society award for Best Female Vocalist on two occasions. [6]
Xenogears is a 1998 role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the PlayStation video game console. It is the debut entry in the larger Xeno franchise. The gameplay of Xenogears revolves around navigating 3D environments both on-foot and using humanoid mecha dubbed "Gears". Combat is governed by a version of the turn-based "Active Time Battle" system. The story follows protagonist Fei Fong Wong and several others as they journey across the world to overthrow the all-powerful rule of Solaris and uncover mysteries concerning their world. The story incorporates Jungian psychology, Freudian thought, and religious symbolism.
Iona was a progressive Celtic Christian rock band from the United Kingdom. It was formed in the late 1980s by lead vocalist Joanne Hogg and multi-instrumentalists David Fitzgerald and Dave Bainbridge. Troy Donockley joined later, playing the uilleann pipes, low whistles, and other instruments.
Moya Brennan, also known as Máire Brennan, is an Irish folk singer, songwriter, harpist, and philanthropist. She is the sister of the musical artist known as Enya. She began performing professionally in 1970 when her family formed the band Clannad. Brennan released her first solo album in 1992 called Máire, a successful venture. She has received a Grammy Award from five nominations and has won an Emmy Award. She has recorded music for several soundtracks, including Titanic, To End All Wars and King Arthur.
Yasunori Mitsuda is a Japanese composer and musician. He is best known for his work in video games, primarily for the Chrono, Xeno, Shadow Hearts, and Inazuma Eleven franchises, among various others. Mitsuda began composing music for his own games in high school, later attending a music college in Tokyo. While still a student, he was granted an intern position at the game development studio Wolf Team.
Looking Into Light is an album by Joanne Hogg. It was released in 1999, and reissued in 2006 as Celtic Hymns.
Dave Bainbridge is an English guitarist and keyboard player who has played with The Strawbs since 2015 and Lifesigns since 2016. With Dave Fitzgerald, Dave co-founded the Christian progressive and Celtic folk themed band Iona.
Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht is a role-playing video game developed by Monolith Soft and published by Namco for the PlayStation 2; the game was released in 2002 in Japan and 2003 in North America. It is the first entry in the Xenosaga trilogy and forms part of the wider Xeno metaseries. Gameplay features exploration of environments through a linear narrative, while battles use turn-based combat with the player characters fighting both on foot and piloting large mecha dubbed A.G.W.S.; combat in turn features a system of button combinations for attack types, and multiple leveling systems.
Creid is the arranged soundtrack to Square's role-playing video game Xenogears. It was written by the game's composer Yasunori Mitsuda and performed by a musical ensemble dubbed Millennial Fair. It was released on April 22, 1998, in Japan by DigiCube, and re-released by Square Enix on June 29, 2005. Comprising ten tracks arranged from the Xenogears Original Soundtrack, the album is mostly done in Irish or Celtic music style, with minor influences of Japanese rock according to Mitsuda. Artists from Japan and Ireland were recruited for the project. Four of the five vocal tracks on the album were written by Junko Kudo and sung by Tetsuko Honma, while the title track "Creid" was written by Mitsuda and performed by Eimear Quinn.
Margaret Becker is an American Christian rock singer, guitarist, and songwriter. She has had twenty-one No. 1 Christian radio hits, won four Dove Awards, and been nominated for four Grammy Awards.
The Xenogears Original Soundtrack is the official soundtrack to Square's role-playing video game Xenogears. It was composed by Yasunori Mitsuda and contains 44 tracks, including a Bulgarian choral song and two pieces performed by the Irish singer Joanne Hogg. Though the game was released in both Japan and North America, the album was published in Japan exclusively as a two-CD set on March 1, 1998.
New Irish Hymns is the first in a series of themed albums created and produced by Keith Getty.
Julian Keith Getty 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
Kristyn Elizabeth Rebekah Getty is a Northern Irish Christian singer and songwriter. With her husband, Keith Getty, she has co-written a number of popular modern hymns.
New Irish Hymns 2: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is the second in a series of themed albums created and produced by Keith Getty. This album features vocalists Margaret Becker, Joanne Hogg, and Kristyn Lennox (Getty) performing songs by Keith Getty and others. Margaret Becker and Joanne Hogg performed on the previous album, New Irish Hymns; all three singers also performed on New Irish Hymns 3: Incarnation and New Irish Hymns 4: Hymns for the Life of the Church.
New Irish Hymns 3: Incarnation is the third in a series of themed albums created and produced by Keith Getty. This album features vocalists Margaret Becker, Joanne Hogg, and Kristyn Getty performing songs by Keith Getty and others. Margaret Becker and Joanne Hogg performed on the first New Irish Hymns album with Moya Brennan; all three singers on this CD also performed on New Irish Hymns 2: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and New Irish Hymns 4: Hymns for the Life of the Church.
New Irish Hymns 4: Hymns for the Life of the Church is the fourth and final album in a series of themed albums created and produced by Keith Getty. This album features vocalists Margaret Becker, Joanne Hogg, and Kristyn Getty performing songs by Keith Getty and others. Margaret Becker and Joanne Hogg performed on all four albums in the series. Kristyn Getty performed on nos. 2-4; printings before her marriage to Keith Getty used her maiden name, Kristyn Lennox.
The Xenosaga (ゼノサーガ) series is a series of science fiction role-playing video games developed by Monolith Soft and published by Namco Bandai on the PlayStation 2. The series began with the 2002 release of Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht, which was followed in 2004 by Episode II: Jenseits von Gut und Böse and in 2006 by Episode III: Also sprach Zarathustra. The music of Xenosaga includes the soundtracks to all three chapters, as well as the music for its spin-off media. These include Xenosaga Freaks, a set of minigames set between the first two chapters, Xenosaga I & II, a Nintendo DS remake of the first two chapters, and Xenosaga: The Animation, an anime series covering the events of the first game. Episode I was composed by Yasunori Mitsuda, Episode II was split between Yuki Kajiura, Shinji Hosoe, and Ayako Saso, and Episode III was composed by Kajiura alone. Xenosaga Freaks reused some of the music of Episode I by Mitsuda while also including new work by Shinji Hosoe, Ayako Saso, Masashi Yano, Keiichi Okabe, Satoru Kōsaki, and Hiroshi Okubo, while Xenosaga I & II and Xenosaga: The Animation used new pieces composed by Kousuke Yamashita.
Myth: The Xenogears Orchestral Album is an arranged soundtrack to Square Enix's role-playing video game Xenogears. It is the third soundtrack to the game, after Xenogears Original Soundtrack and Creid, another arranged album, both released in 1998. Myth was composed by the game's composer Yasunori Mitsuda and arranged by Mitsuda, Youki Yamamoto, Sachiko Miyano, and Natsumi Kameoka. The album contains 14 tracks, including a song performed by the Irish singer Joanne Hogg, and has a length of 51:33. The orchestration was performed by the Bulgarian Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Yamamoto. The album was announced in October 2010, and was released on February 23, 2011 by Square Enix. A vinyl record version of the album was released on April 1, 2011, consisting of six tracks from the full album.
New Irish Hymns is a series of Christian-themed albums created and produced by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend. Each album is performed by different singers:
Keith & Kristyn Getty are a musical duo from Northern Ireland, focusing on hymns and other Christian music. They are best known for the 2001 hymn “In Christ Alone”, co-written with Stuart Townend.
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