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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

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…