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From writing the soundtrack for World of Warcraft to conducting at the Oscars, EIMEAR NOONE has built a career combining her two passions: orchestras and gaming. Now she’s taking the music she loves on tour WORDS ALICE AUSTIN
Eimear Noone had two loves when growing up in the village of Kilconnell in County Galway, Ireland: orchestral music and Nintendo. At the age of seven, Noone had seen a white-haired conductor leading an orchestra on TV, and immediately she knew her destiny. To that end, she learnt to play the tin whistle, flute and piano; spent Saturdays – when not gaming – at the Royal Irish Academy of Music, then studied composition at Trinity College Dublin. Aged just 21, Noone co-founded the Dublin City Concert Orchestra, and since then she has conducted musicians around the world; in 2020, she became the first female conductor to lead the orchestra at the Oscars. Combining her two passions, Noone has also become one of the most influential composers in gaming: she has written for many of the industry’s biggest franchises, as well as co-creating the Dublin International Game Music Festival. In May, Noone is set to tour the UK with the Heritage Orchestra, performing a unique show with music from Fortnite, The Legend of Zelda, World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor and more… the red bulletin: What were your early experiences of gaming? eimear noone: Because it rains so much in Ireland, we produce many artists and writers – and there’s a lot of gaming. I grew up with three brothers in a Nintendo household. I loved Zelda. With gaming, as with music, you lock into something and become immersed. I have ADHD, and the only relief comes when I’m conducting, or working on a composition project. When did you first see an orchestra? My first experience of seeing an orchestra [live] was from inside one. I grew up in a
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PHOTOGRAPHY ANDY PARADISE
village of around 400 people, about 100 miles [160km] from Dublin, so the only time I’d seen an orchestra was on TV. I played flute in [an orchestral] performance of Sibelius’ Finlandia in a church in Galway city, and I was completely and utterly gone after that. Was conducting the next logical step? When I was 15, I was playing in a concert with an army band, and the conductor turned to me and said, “You’re up next.” I was supposed to go up there and flap my arms around and make my classmates laugh, but I’ll never forget looking at the score and my ADHD brain just feeling really calm. Everything came into line, everything slowed down. I felt like I had found my place. What’s your process when composing for a video game? It’s all about the creatives and how they envision expressing the story. There are so many ways of doing it. I always say that if Mozart was alive today he’d write video-game music. We have evidence of him doing musical puzzles and putting hidden messages in his music, and there’s so much about scoring games that’s like a puzzle. We’re basically doing what composers have always done, only this is the 21st-century version. What’s unique about writing a score for a game? When you get a film, generally the picture is locked and there’s a structure in place. But with video games there are multiple uses of music: [for instance] you walk into a room in a game and there’s music coming from a gramophone or from a club or hotel lobby. Composing this music is really fun because I get to work in all sorts of styles. That’s how so much Irish music snuck into Zelda.
What have you found most challenging in your career? It’s a marathon rather than a sprint. In the early days, gender was a challenge, so I had to fight for my rights. And I had no contacts. I’m a classical musician – I had a scholarship to the conservatory, but I didn’t know anyone in gaming or films. So every person I know is someone I met personally along the way. What can we expect from your Video Games in Concert tour? People will be surprised and be taken places they might not have imagined. I love how gaming is such a leveller: it doesn’t matter where you live or how able-bodied you are; there are no country borders or cultural boundaries. I always ask the audience if it’s their first time seeing an orchestra live, and more than half will say yes. That’s really special to me. How does the audience react to hearing video-game music live? I love seeing people who are so excited about the music in their game but don’t realise there’s millions of others who feel the same. It’s weird being in a room with all these people you’ve never met but who share this passion. I feel so moved when I’m standing on stage and I see them all so completely bowled over and appreciative. It never gets old. I love sharing that with an orchestra, because we’re from the same musical background but my people are the video-game music community. It’s really fun for me to bring those two worlds together. Video Games in Concert featuring Eimear Noone tours the UK this May. For tickets, visit aegpresents.co.uk
THE RED BULLETIN
