Kevin Penkin

Last updated

Kevin Penkin
Born (1992-05-22) 22 May 1992 (age 33)
United Kingdom
Origin Perth, Western Australia
Genres
OccupationComposer
Years active2011–present
Website kpenkmusic.com

Kevin Penkin (born 22 May 1992) is a British-born Australian composer, primarily for video games and anime. He is best known for composing the score of the anime Made in Abyss , which won Best Score at the 2nd Crunchyroll Anime Awards, and the score for the Tower of God anime adaptation, also won the same category at the fifth edition. [1]

Contents

Biography

Penkin was born on 22 May 1992 in the United Kingdom, [2] [3] and grew up in Perth, Western Australia. [4] Penkin's interest in video game music started from when he first heard the "Phendrana Drifts" theme from Metroid Prime ; [4] in a 2012 interview, he referred to the theme's electronic synths and acoustic instruments as "absolute bliss". [4]

Penkin began his career with composition credits in the 2011 short films Play Lunch and The Adventures of Chipman and Biscuit Boy. [4] In the same year, Penkin composed the soundtrack of the video game Jūzaengi: Engetsu Sangokuden; this soundtrack represented Penkin's first collaboration with Nobuo Uematsu. [4] Penkin has continued to collaborate with Uematsu in titles such as Norn9 and Defender's Quest II: Mists of Ruin. [5]

In 2013, Penkin received a Bachelor of Music in Composition and Music Technology at Edith Cowan University's Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts. In 2015, Penkin graduated from the Royal College of Music with a Master of Composition degree in Composition for Screen. [6] His studies were supported by a grant from the Tait Memorial Trust as the inaugural Tait Scholar at the Royal College of Music. [7]

In 2016, Penkin collaborated with Kinema Citrus on the Norn9 anime and the Under the Dog original video animation soundtracks. [8] Penkin's relationship with Kinema Citrus continued through to 2017 for the soundtrack of Made in Abyss , [8] winning the 2017 Crunchyroll Anime Award for Best Score with it. [1] In 2018, Penkin composed the score for the video game Florence . [9] Penkin composed the music for Kinema Citrus' anime adaptation of The Rising of the Shield Hero and NetEase's VR game Nostos in 2019. [10] He composed the score for the 2020 anime adaptation of the South Korean webtoon Tower of God . [11] Penkin was working with artist Takashi Murakami on the sequel to the movie Jellyfish Eyes , but the project was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [12] In 2021, Penkin composed the score for "The Village Bride" episode in the Disney+ animated anthology series Star Wars: Visions . [13]

Penkin lived in the United Kingdom for some time, [8] but now lives in Melbourne, Australia. [14]

Works

Anime

YearTitleNote(s)
2016 Under the Dog [8] [15]
Norn9 [8] [15]
2017 Made in Abyss Won "Best Score" at the 2nd Crunchyroll Anime Awards [8] [15]
2019 The Rising of the Shield Hero Nominated for "Best Score" at the 4th Crunchyroll Anime Awards [15] [16]
2020Made in Abyss: Dawn of the Deep Soul [15]
Tower of God Won "Best Score" at the 5th Crunchyroll Anime Awards [15]
2021 Eden [17]
Star Wars: Visions Episode "The Village Bride" [13]
2022 The Rising of the Shield Hero 2 [18]
Made in Abyss: The Golden City of the Scorching Sun [19]
Legend of Mana: The Teardrop Crystal Composed the opening theme "Tear of Will" [20]
2023 Pokémon: Paldean Winds [21]
The Apothecary Diaries With Satoru Kōsaki and Alisa Okehazama [22]
The Rising of the Shield Hero 3 [23]
2024 Bye Bye, Earth [24]
Spice and Wolf: Merchant Meets the Wise Wolf [25]
Tower of God season 2 [26] [27]
2025 Bâan: The Boundary of Adulthood [28]

Video games

YearTitleNote(s)
2011Jūzaengi: Engetsu SangokudenWith Nobuo Uematsu [4] [15]
2012 Defender's Quest: Valley of the Forgotten [15]
2013 Norn9 With Nobuo Uematsu [15]
Deemo Composed "I Race the Dawn" [15]
Leviathan: The Last Defense [15]
2014Project Phoenix [15]
2015 Implosion: Never Lose Hope Composed cutscenes music [15]
2017Kieru [8] [15]
2018 Florence Nominated at the 15th British Academy Game Awards for music [9] [15]
This Is the Police 2With Ben Matthews [15]
2019Nostos [10] [15]
Rebel CopsWith Ben Matthews [15]
2020 Necrobarista [29] [30]
2021Grow: Song of the Evertree [31]
Arknights Composed "Heal the World" [32]
2022 Sin Chronicle With various others [33]
TBADefender's Quest II: Mists of Ruin [5] [34]
RenaineWith various others [35]

Concert works

YearTitleNote(s)
2013Blossom Crossroads Perth Symphony Orchestra [36]
Looking for SerenityPerth Chamber Orchestra
Altered IllustrationsPerth Chamber Orchestra
Joshua Webster, cimbalom [37]
2014Atmosphere RCM Student Film Orchestra
Anaïs Laugenie, cello
Changing Feet Tait Memorial Trust Chamber Orchestra
Nicola Crowe, flute [38]
2015First Blood"And So Forth" Opera Company
Rebecca Hardwick, soprano
2016ThroughtonesGreywing Ensemble [39]
Houn MaruCommissioned by Rio Tinto, Perth Symphony Orchestra [40]

References

  1. 1 2 Trumbore, Dave (26 February 2018). "Crunchyroll Anime Awards Winners Revealed: Who Took Home the Big Prize?". Collider. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
  2. ↑ Penkin, Kevin (21 May 2018). "Apparently in some places in the world I'm already 26. That's a laugh". Twitter. Archived from the original on 22 May 2021. Retrieved 22 May 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  3. ↑ Penkin, Kevin. "Kevin Penkin Long Interview". Made in Abyss (Interview) (in Japanese). Interviewed by Shimpei Yamashita; Hiromitsu Iijima. Kadokawa Corporation. (republished by Sentai Filmworks)
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Greening, Chris (27 February 2014). "Kevin Penkin Interview: Writing Soundtracks with Nobuo". VGMO -Video Game Music Online-. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
  5. 1 2 Doucet, Lars (2 April 2014). "Nobuo Uematsu to work on Defender's Quest 2". Fortress of Doors. Doucet, Lars. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
  6. ↑ "Biography". Kevin Penkin. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
  7. ↑ "Kevin Penkin, Inaugural Tait Scholar at the Royal College of Music – Tait Memorial Trust". 7 November 2013.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 May, Callum (4 October 2017). "Interview: Made in Abyss Composer Kevin Penkin". Anime News Network. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
  9. 1 2 Remington, Kate (21 June 2018). "Kevin Penkin's Intimate, Conversational Soundtrack For 'Florence'". www.wshu.org. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
  10. 1 2 Penkin, Kevin (22 August 2018). "So, speaking of more to come... honoured to announce I composed the music for my first VR title, @nostosgame Nostos is an VRMMO Sandbox game and the main theme features the incredible singer of Nier Automata, Emi Evans!". @kevinpenkin. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
  11. ↑ "Crunchyroll Reveals Tower of God Anime's Video, Cast, Staff". Anime News Network. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
  12. ↑ @kevinpenkin (11 July 2020). "ANNOUNCEMENT: I've been working with artist Takashi Murakami on the music for his movie "Jellyfish Eyes 2". Due to Covid-19 the project has been abandoned. Regardless, we worked extremely hard on the music and I hope one day I can share it. It was an honour to work with Murakami" (Tweet). Retrieved 14 July 2020– via Twitter.
  13. 1 2 Penkin, Kevin [@kevinpenkin] (3 July 2021). "I'm composing for a Star Wars anime. Specifically, an episode of the new Disney+ series "Star Wars Visions", which is a collection of original animated shorts based in the Star Wars universe. Beyond honoured. Please enjoy "The Village Bride" by Kinema Citrus, this September" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 3 July 2021. Retrieved 3 July 2021– via Twitter.
  14. ↑ Penkin, Kevin (9 June 2019). "Less than 2 weeks until I call Melbourne my home. Pretty keen." Twitter. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 "Credits". kpenkmusic.com. Retrieved 26 October 2021.
  16. ↑ "Every Crunchyroll Anime Awards 2020 Winner, Including Anime Of The Year". GameSpot. Retrieved 14 June 2022.
  17. ↑ Gramuglia, Anthony (14 April 2019). "Netflix Announces Eden Anime From Fullmetal Alchemist Director". Comic Book Resources . Archived from the original on 15 April 2019. Retrieved 26 October 2021.
  18. ↑ "The Rising of the Shield Hero Anime's 2nd Season Premieres in 2021". Anime News Network. 4 September 2020. Archived from the original on 5 September 2020. Retrieved 26 October 2021.
  19. ↑ "Made in Abyss Season 2's English-Subtitled Video Unveils Cast, Staff". Anime News Network. 21 November 2021. Archived from the original on 21 November 2021. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
  20. ↑ @kevinpenkin (29 June 2022). "It is beyond crazy to be able to announce that I am the composer of the Opening Theme to the 『聖剣伝説 Legend of Mana -The Teardrop Crystal』anime, with vocals & lyrics by the amazing Hayami Saori (@hayami_official)" (Tweet). Retrieved 4 July 2022– via Twitter.
  21. ↑ 『ポケモンSV』オリジナルWEBアニメ『放課後のブレス』は9月6日より全4話で公開！ 物語や若山詩音さん演じるオハラなどのキャラ情報が解禁. Pash! Plus  [ ja ] (in Japanese). 9 August 2023. Archived from the original on 10 August 2023. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
  22. ↑ "The Apothecary Diaries Novels About Palace Intrigue Get 2023 TV Anime". Anime News Network. 15 February 2023. Archived from the original on 16 February 2023. Retrieved 16 February 2023.
  23. ↑ "The Rising of the Shield Hero Anime Season 3's Teaser Unveils October Debut". Anime News Network. 7 April 2023. Archived from the original on 7 April 2023. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
  24. ↑ 「ばいばい、アース」ラブラック=ベル役はファイルーズあい、制作にライデンフィルム. Comic Natalie (in Japanese). Natasha, Inc. 14 October 2023. Archived from the original on 14 October 2023. Retrieved 14 October 2023.
  25. ↑ "New Spice & Wolf TV Anime Reveals 2024 Debut, Returning Cast". Anime News Network. 29 June 2023. Archived from the original on 29 June 2023. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  26. ↑ "Tower of God Season 2 Anime Releases New Trailer Featuring Opening Theme by NiziU". www.crunchyroll.com. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
  27. ↑ "Tower of God Season 2's Sneak Peek Video Reveals NiziU Songs, Revamped Staff, More Cast". Anime News Network. 30 December 2024. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
  28. ↑ "GeeXPlus' New GeeXProductions Division Produces Gigguk's Bâan -The Boundaries of Adulthood- Anime Short Movie". Anime News Network. 4 August 2025. Retrieved 4 August 2025.
  29. ↑ Mejias, Nicole (27 November 2018). "Composer Kevin Penkin on Symphonic Metal and Flamenco Music Influences in The Rising of the Shield Hero, and More!". Crunchyroll. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
  30. ↑ "Route 59 Games press kit". necrobarista.com. Archived from the original on 22 July 2020. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  31. ↑ Romano, Sal (27 August 2021). "Grow: Song of the Evertree launches November 16". Gematsu. Retrieved 26 October 2021.
  32. ↑ @kevinpenkin (21 December 2021). "I wrote music for Arknights!!! Beyond honoured to work with the irreplaceable @SarahAlainn on the song "Heal the World". Feel free to check below" (Tweet). Retrieved 10 January 2022– via Twitter.
  33. ↑ Romano, Sal (1 October 2021). "Sega announces 'choose your own ending RPG' Sin Chronicle for iOS, Android". Gematsu. Retrieved 3 October 2021.
  34. ↑ "Defender's Quest II - Core Team". defendersquest.com. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
  35. ↑ Romano, Sal (18 September 2018). "High-paced platformer Renaine coming to Switch, PC". Gematsu. Retrieved 26 October 2021.
  36. ↑ Flavell Neist, Carol (13 March 2013). "Symphony by the Lake". ArtsHub Australia. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
  37. ↑ Parry, Mike (18 December 2013). "Beethoven Bratwurst and Beer". ArtsHub Australia. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
  38. ↑ "Changing Feet – A musical exploration of changing pace". Tait Memorial Trust. 30 September 2014. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
  39. ↑ Trainer, Adam (10 May 2016). "GreyWing Ensemble". Western Australian New Music Archive. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
  40. ↑ "Tait Awardee, Kevin Penkin composes original score to celebrate Rio Tinto's 50 years of iron ore mining". Tait Memorial Trust. 13 November 2016. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
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