Tommy Tallarico

Creator / Executive Producer / Host / Guitar

Tommy Tallarico is a veritable video game industry icon. As one of the most successful video game composers in history, he has helped revolutionize the gaming world, creating unique audio landscapes that enhance the video gaming experience. He is considered the person most instrumental in changing the game industry from bleeps & bloops to real music now appreciated worldwide by millions of fans. In 2018 it was announced that Tommy had become the CEO/President of the legacy video game hardware company Intellivision which will be debuting a brand new family home console (Amico) in 2020.

He is the founder of G.A.N.G. (Game Audio Network Guild), a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting excellence in interactive audio (www.audiogang.org). Tommy was the host, writer and co-producer of the award-winning, cutting-edge television shows Reviews on the Run and the Electric Playground. An accomplished musician, Tallarico has been writing music for video games for more than 30 years. Tallarico was the first musician to release a video game soundtrack worldwide (Tommy Tallarico’s Greatest Hits Vol. 1 – Capitol Records). Tommy was one of the first person to ever use live guitar and 3-D audio in a video game (The Terminator), and was instrumental in bringing true digital interactive 5.1 surround to the gaming world. He has won over 50 industry awards for best video game audio and has worked on more than 350 game titles. His score for Advent Rising has been noted as "one of the greatest musical scores of all time" by websites such as Yahoo, Gamespot and others. In 2008, he was enshrined in the Guinness Book of World Records with a two page feature article and interview and currently holds 3 Guinness World Records including the person who has worked on the most commercially released video games. For more information about Tommy please visit www.tallarico.com.

Emmanuel Fratianni

Principal Conductor

Awarded a visiting artist visa by the United States in 2000, Emmanuel Fratianni arrived in Los Angeles to become a sought after conductor, composer, pianist and music team member in the Hollywood film, television, music and video game industries as well as the concert world. An award-winning composer, his work has been performed by some of the finest and most recorded orchestras in the world, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra and the London Philharmonic Orchestra. In the US Emmanuel Fratianni has guest conducted the Houston Symphony Orchestra, Dallas Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, Utah Symphony Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra at Wolf Trap as well as the San Francisco Symphony at Davies Hall. Around the world he has guest conducted orchestras such as the Royal Scottish National Symphony, The Malaysian Symphony Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra of Chile and in Asia the Beijing Opera and Performing Art Orchestra. Emmanuel is currently principal conductor and music director of the acclaimed international symphonic tour Video Games Live. Emmanuel’s debut on the Billboard Top-Ten in 2008 with EMI Classics Video Games Live, Vol.1 soundtrack album (as composer, conductor, orchestrator) cemented his status in the classical/crossover orchestral world. His numerous awards and credits as a composer and collaborator include “Soundtrack of the Year” by Play Magazine for the score toAdvent Rising, one GANG Award and five GANG Nominations.

Jason Paige

Vocalist

Jason Paige is known for singing the first theme song for the English version of the Pokémon anime. He also sings "Viridian City" and sings as a background vocalist for the Pokémon 2.B.A. Master soundtrack. As a vocalist Paige toured for a year as the lead singer for the band Blood Sweat & Tears and has sung and beat-boxed with Aerosmith on tour, and on the Howard Stern re-mix of the hit single “Pink”. Paige sang backgrounds for Michael Jackson and is the rap soloist for the song "Black or White", which was performed at Michael Jackson's 30th Anniversary concert at Madison Square Garden. His one-man show is filled with socio-political sexual-logical musical parody, con-fessions, and impersonations.

As an actor, Jason can be seen as Peter in “An Argentinian in New York”, as a choir singer in “A Walk to Remember”, as the voice over for Buttmeister in “Meet the Spartans”, as a medic in “Make Yourself at Home”, as a student in “Election”, and as a parent in “The Hustler”. From 1995 to 2000, he produced and starred in his own musical comedy sketch show, “The What's Up Show”, which showed on Manhattan cable TV.

He has co-written two musicals, “BOX” and “Writing Pictures” produced at Hartford’s Bushnell Theatre for Black History Month, based on Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom's Cabin. And "A Tribute To Irwin Price" Performed at Open Fist Theater.

In response to the massive popularity of the Pokémon Go mobile game, Paige re-recorded the theme during the height of the game's popularity in July 2016. Later that month, Paige sang another parody of theme song featuring Dwayne Johnson as a Pokémon. He performed the song in Los Angeles as well. In October 2016 He released his anthem "a tribute to Pokemon Go" as a sister theme to the original.

Eimear Noone

Conductor

Having composed extensively for film and video game, Eímear Noone is responsible for some of the most enduring soundscapes on World of Warcraft, Warlords of Draenor which achieved the Hollywood Music in Media Award for Best Video Game Score and was nominated for 5 Annual Game Music Awards and The ASCAP, Composer’s Choice Award, and other best-selling video game scores. In addition to her classical, film, rock and EDM experience, Eímear has emerged as one of the world's premier conductors of game scores having conducted the original recordings and performances of nearly all the World of Warcraft/Blizzard Activision franchises over the past 10 years.

She was also the conductor featured by Nintendo while recording the original soundtrack for The Legend of Zelda 25th Anniversary 3DS. With views in the millions, this was one of the first times a recording session was captured in 3D while it happened. Extensive tours with The Legend of Zelda, Symphony of the Goddesses, and Video Games Live (VGL) followed with Eimear conducting at venues such as The Sydney Opera House, The Mann Center, Wolftrap and The Bird's Nest (Olympic Stadium, Beijing).

In the film world, she has worked on scores for directors such as Gus Van Sant and Joe Dante, orchestrating for Oscar nominee Javier Navarrette (composer of Pan’s Labyrinth) creating haunting music for thrillers Mirrors and The Hole. Her other feature film scores include the family drama, It's Dark Here, the phycological thriller The Donner Party (based on the true story) and the horror film, The Occupants.

She has led some of the world's great ensembles, including: The Philadelphia Orchestra, The Pittsburgh Symphony,The Dallas Symphony Orchestra,The Sydney Symphony Orchestra and The Washington National Symphony Orchestra. Eímear has had the pleasure of conducting the orchestra for the Los Angeles Ballet in their inaugural production of Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker earning recognition from the LA Times. She has also shared the stage with Pierce Brosnan and Roma Downey in her own production This Is Ireland. Eímear founded the Dublin International Game Music Festival and is a sought-after commentator on music, technology and creativity.

Bryan Deans

Conductor

Born and raised in Vancouver, Bryan Deans has consistently left a lasting impression on the Vancouver classical music scene. He is a cellist, conductor, music director, composer; known not only for his skill, but also his energy, leadership and dedication to his art. His passion for classical music has been tempered with his love for other genres from rock, pop, jazz, folk and experimental, with the resulting dynamism reflecting in his choice of projects. He is founder of the Placid Acid Orchestra, a full-sized symphony into uncharted territory performing at the Vancouver International Jazz Festival, the Vogue Theatre, Performance Works Granville Island, and collaborating with a wide variety of local artists and genres throughout these performances. He is also assistant conductor of Lions Gate Sinfonia Youth Orchestra and music director at St. John's School. Since receiving his degree in music from the University of Victoria, he has been the assistant conductor of the Vancouver Philharmonic Orchestra, member of WestCoast Symphony, as well as conductor and performer in many other local ensembles.

Russell Brower

Conductor

Russell Brower is an American music composer and three-time Emmy Award-winning sound designer who has created sounds for Tiny Toon Adventures, Animaniacs and Batman: The Animated Series, and video game music for games including Joint Operations, World of Warcraft, Starcraft II and Diablo III. He was previously the Director of Audio/Video for Blizzard Entertainment, the sound designer/editor at Warner Bros. Animation and DiC Entertainment, the Audio Director at NovaLogic, and the Principal Media Designer and Music Director at Walt Disney Imagineering.

"Invincible" from his score for World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King, made its first appearance in the Classic FM Hall of Fame Top 300 in April 2014 at no 52. It was Brower's first appearance in the Hall of Fame.

Marty O'Donnell

Conductor

Martin O'Donnell is a composer known for his work on video game developer Bungie's series, such as Myth, Oni, Halo, and Destiny. O'Donnell collaborated with his musical colleague Michael Salvatori for many of the scores; he has also directed voice talent and sound design for the Halo trilogy. O'Donnell was Bungie's audio lead until April 11, 2014.

O'Donnell began his career in music writing television and radio jingles such as the FlintStones vitamins song and scoring for radio stations and films. O'Donnell moved to composing video game music when his company, TotalAudio, did the sound design for the 1997 title Riven. After producing the music for Myth II, Bungie contracted O'Donnell to work on their other projects, including Oni and the project that would become Halo: Combat Evolved. O'Donnell ended up joining the Bungie staff only ten days before the studio was bought by Microsoft, and would be the audio director for all Bungie projects until he was fired.

O'Donnell's score to the Halo trilogy has been called iconic, earning him several awards, and the commercial soundtrack release of the music to Halo 2 was the best-selling video game soundtrack of all time in the United States. He then went on to compose the scores to Halo 3 and Halo: Reach, released on September 25, 2007, and September 14, 2010, respectively. His final work for Bungie was composing music for the 2014 video game Destiny. He is currently working on the soundtrack to Golem.

Neal Acree

Conductor

Neal Acree is a BAFTA nominated film, television and video game composer and conductor whose work includes the massively popular game franchises World of Warcraft, StarCraft II, Diablo III, Overwatch, Revelation Online, shows like Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, Witchblade and over 30 feature films. A versatile and prolific composer with roots in classical, rock and electronic music, Acree's music has been recorded and performed by orchestras and choirs around the world, including the hit concert tour Video Games Live.

In 2014 Neal’s critically acclaimed, Asian themed music for World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria would open a new door, this time to the East. When Chinese game giant NetEase gave Neal the unique opportunity to write a traditional Chinese score for their fantasy MMO Revelation Online (one of the first times a Chinese game company had hired a Westerner to do so), he felt strangely at home. Having been raised by a father whose love of Chinese cinema and culture was mirrored by the passion for art and music that he passed on to his son, Neal found an unexpected familiarity in a musical language that was on the surface so foreign. The result was one of his most passionate and critically acclaimed scores that led to several more collaborations with NetEase including Imperial Reign, Wildfire and Legends of Tibet.

In addition to winning three Hollywood Music In Media Awards, a Golden Reel Award, six Game Audio Network Guild Awards and four Global Music Awards, Neal was also nominated for a BAFTA, four Academy Of Interactive Arts and Sciences Awards, two ASCAP Composer's Choice Awards as well as numerous critic awards. In 2016 Neal was named the BSOSpirit Jerry Goldsmith "Composer of the Year" at a ceremony in Malaga, Spain.