Yuzo Koshiro

Infobox Musical artist
Name=Yuzo Koshiro


Img_capt=Yuzo Koshiro at "Play! A Video Game Symphony" in Chicago
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Background=non_performing_personnel
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Born=birth date and age|1967|12|12
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Origin=Hino, Tokyo, Japan
Instrument=Piano, Violin
Genre=
Occupation=Composer, programmer
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URL= [http://ancient.co.jp/ Ancient Corp.]
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nihongo|Yuzo Koshiro|古代祐三|Koshiro Yūzō|born December 12 1967 in Hino, Tokyo is a Japanese video game music composer.

Early life

Koshiro was exposed to music at a very young age, learning to play the piano at age 3. He also received music composition lessons from the well-known composer Joe Hisaishi.

Career

Koshiro's first composing job was with Nihon Falcom in 1986, where he contributed to the soundtracks of "Xanadu Scenario II" and "Romancia". However, his most well-known Falcom works are his contributions to "Sorcerian", "Ys I", and "Ys II". After "Ys II", Koshiro left Falcom.

Following his separation with Falcom, Koshiro became a freelancer, composing music for many other companies. Most notable among these were Sega, where he composed music for "The Revenge of Shinobi" and the trilogy he's most known for, "Streets of Rage", as well as Quintet, where he composed the soundtracks to "ActRaiser" and "ActRaiser 2".

In 1990, Koshiro helped found Ancient Corp., which has contributed to the development of a number of games, such as "Beyond Oasis".

His latest work includes music for the acclaimed games "Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune", "Etrian Odyssey", and "Etrian Odyssey 2".

He also composed the main theme of the French TV channel "Nolife" ["Nolife TV Theme", released on the album "Tamiuta" [http://www.vgmdb.net/db/albums.php?id=6024] ] .

Concert performances

A live performance of "ActRaiser" could be heard in 2004 at the second Symphonic Game Music Concert in Leipzig, Germany and in 2005 at the first Chamber Music Game Concert in Leipzig, Germany. Yuzo Koshiro is participating on PLAY! A Video Game Symphony, a symphonic world-tour featuring video game music. He arranged music from Sonic The Hedgehog for the tour. He attended the world premiere on May 27, 2006 in Chicago.

On August 23, 2006, his music from "The Revenge of Shinobi" was performed at the fourth Symphonic Game Concert in Leipzig, Germany, in an arrangement done by him and was performed again in two concerts in Stockholm, Sweden in 2007 and in Prague, Czech Republic in 2008 as a part of PLAY! A Video Game Symphony.

On June 15, 2007 and June 16, 2007, Koshiro worked as a disc jockey for selections of his most famous works including the Wangan Midnight- and Streets of Rage series for fans in Singapore at the PLAY! pre-concert events.

In 2007 Koshiro arranged music from New Super Mario Bros. for the fifth Symphonic Game Music Concert in Leipzig, Germany on August 22, 2007. He attended the performance and the autograph session afterwards.

Recently it has been announced that Yuzo Koshiro arranged music from Jim Power in Mutant Planet for the Symphonic Shades - Huelsbeck in Concert events taking place on August 23, 2008 in Cologne, Germany. The music will be performed by the WDR Radio Orchestra and the FILMharmonic Choir Prague. Koshiro will be in attendance at both concerts.

Video games

*"Xanadu Scenario II" (PC-88, PC-98)
*"Ys" (PC-88, PC-98)
*"Ys II" (PC-88, PC-98)
*"Romancia" (PC-88)
*"Legacy of the Wizard" / "Dragon Slayer IV" (NES/Famicom)
*"Sorcerian" (PC-88, PC-98)
*"Algarna" (Sharp X1)
*"Bosconian" (Sharp X68000)
*"The Scheme" (PC-88)
*"Misty Blue" (PC-88)
*"Star Wars - Attack of the Death Star" (X68000 arrangements)
*"Crack Down" (Arcade)
*"The Stickman is Back" (Sega Mega Drive/Genesis) - unreleased
*"The Revenge of Shinobi" / "The Super Shinobi" (Mega Drive/Genesis)
*"Thrice (Slice)" (Sharp X68000)
*"Streets of Rage" / "Bare Knuckle" (Mega Drive/Genesis)
*"Sonic The Hedgehog" (Sega Game Gear, Sega Master System)
*"ActRaiser" (Super NES/Super Famicom)
*"ActRaiser 2" (SNES / SFC)
*"Super Adventure Island" (SNES / SFC)
*"Streets of Rage 2" / "Bare Knuckle II" (Mega Drive/Genesis) - with Motohiro Kawashima
*"Slap Fight" (Mega Drive) - Japan only
*"Miracle Casino Paradise" (SFC) - Japan only
*"Shinobi" / "The GG Shinobi" (Game Gear)
*"" / "The GG Shinobi II" (Game Gear)
*"Batman Returns" (Game Gear, Master System)
*"Streets of Rage 3" / "Bare Knuckle III" (Mega Drive/Genesis) - with Motohiro Kawashima
*"Beyond Oasis" / "The Story of Thor" (Mega Drive / Genesis)
*"Eye of the Beholder" (Sega CD)
*"Zork I" (Sega Saturn / PlayStation)
*"The Legend of Oasis" / "The Story of Thor 2" (Sega Saturn)
*"Vatlva" (Sega Saturn)
*"Culdcept" (Sega Saturn) - with Takeshi Yanagawa
*"Shenmue" (Dreamcast) - with Takenobu Mitsuyoshi, Takeshi Yanagawa, Osamu Murata and Ryuji Iuchi
*"Wangan Midnight" (Arcade, PlayStation 2)
*"Car Battler Joe" (Game Boy Advance)
*"Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune" (Arcade)
*"Amazing Island" (Nintendo GameCube)
*"" (Arcade)
*"Namco × Capcom" (PlayStation 2) - with flair
*"Dance Dance Revolution Extreme 2" (USA) / "Dancing Stage Max" (PAL) / "Dance Dance Revolution STR!KE" (JPN) (PlayStation 2) - provided the song "You Gotta Move It" with vocals by Julie Rugaard
*"" (Nintendo DS) - with Michiru Yamane
*" Etrian Odyssey" (Nintendo DS)
*"" (Arcade)
*"Fuzion Frenzy 2" (Xbox 360)
*"Warriors Of The Lost Empire" (USA) / "Lost Regnum" (JPN) (PlayStation Portable)
*"Kateikyoushi Hitman Reborn! Dream Hyper Battle!" (PlayStation 2, Wii) - with Tomonori Hayashibe and Motohiro Kawashima
*"Super Smash Bros. Brawl" (Wii) - with many other composers
*"Etrian Odyssey II" (Nintendo DS)
*"7th Dragon" (Nintendo DS)

Other projects include "Merregnon Soundtrack - Volume 2", " [http://gmronline.com/info.asp?CatNumber=BICA-5001 Ten Plants] ", the "Street Fighter" "Tribute Album" (for a M. Bison stage remix), " [http://www.vgmworld.com/catalog/index.php?table=cocoebiz_music&item_num=941 FM Sound Module Maniax] ", and a guest arranging role on the "Pink Sweets" soundtrack.

Discography

*"The Scheme" (21 December 1989, Alfa Records, 25A2-8)
*"The Super Shinobi & Works" (25 December 1989, Alpha Records, 25A2-53)
*"ActRaiser OST" (25 January 1991, Alfa Records, ALCA-105)
*"Misty Blue" (21 April 1991, Alfa Records, ALCA-123)
*"Bare Knuckle" (Streets of Rage) "OST" (21 September 1991, Alfa Records, ALCA-181)
*"ActRaiser Symphonic Suite" (21 September 1991, Alpha Records, ALCA-182, with the Japan Shinsei Symphony Orchestra)
*"Super Adventure Island" (21 January 1992, Alfa Records, ALCA-242)
*"Yuzo Koshiro Early Collection" (21 July 1992, Alfa Records, ALCA-328)
*"Bare Knuckle II" (Streets of Rage 2) "OST" (21 January 1993, Alfa Records, ALCA-443, with Motohiro Kawashima)
*"Bare Knuckle III" (Streets of Rage 3) "OST" (24 August 1994, Alfa Records, ALCA-5006, with Motohiro Kawashima)
*"Yuzo Koshiro Early Collection 2nd" (1 August 1998, Ancient, PRD-688)
*"Culdcept OST" (21 January 1998, First Smile, FSCA-10028, with Takeshi Yanagawa)
*"Streets of Rage 2 OST" (1 February 2000, Mars Colony Music, MCM-10106-2, with Motohiro Kawashima, rerelease)
*"Legend 80's "The Scheme Soundtrack" (21 August 2002, Scitron, SCDC-00199, remastered with new tracks)
*"Wangan Midnight OST" (4 September 2002, Scitron, SCDC-00188)
*"Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune 2 OST" (6 April 2005, King Records, KICA-1361/1362)
*"Capture Chronicle Series "Gain Ground & Crack Down" (24 March 2006, Scitron, SDDV-00031/32)
*"Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune 3 OST" (27 September 2007, Marvelous Entertainment, MJCD-20102)

Contributions in:
*"All Over Xanadu" (5 July 1987, Apollon Music Industrial Corp., BY30-5170)
*"Romancia Sound Fantasy" (21 November 1987, Apollon Music Industrial Corp., BY30-5176)
*"Perfect Collection Ys" (5 August 1990, King Records, KICA-1012/1013)
*"Perfect Collection Ys 2" (5 September 1990, King Records, KICA-1014/1015)
*"Perfect Collection Sorcerian Vol. 2" (21 September 1991, King Records, KICA-1037/1038)
*"Perfect Collection Sorcerian Vol. 3" (21 November 1991, King Records, KICA-1039/1040)
*"Great Wall" (16 August 1993, Troubadour Records, TTRC-0002)
*"Perfect Collection Ys IV - The Dawn of Ys Volume 1" (23 February 1994, King Records, KICA-1139)
*"Little Princess Puppet Princess of Marl's Kingdom 2 OST" (8 March 2000, Toshiba EMI/Future Land, TYCY-10031)
*"Shenmue Chapter 1 - Yokosuka OST" (23 March 2000, Future Land, TYCY-10034/10035)
*"Street Fighter Tribute Album" (17 December 2003, Suleputer, CPCA-1083)
*"Merregnon Soundtrack - Volume 2" (19 May 2004, Totentanz (Soulfood Music), TOT 23009)
*"Merregnon Soundtrack - Volume 2" (19 January 2005, Dex Entertainment, DECX-0018, rerelease)
*"Namco x Capcom OST" (23 August 2005, Suleputer, CPCA-10118)
* "Dance Dance Revolution Festival & Strike Original Soundtrack" (15 February 2006, Toshiba EMI, TOCP-64291/64292)

Trivia

*His sister Ayano Koshiro has designed characters and graphics for several games Yuzo has worked on, including the "Streets of Rage" ("Bare Knuckle" in Japan) series, "Ys" and "ActRaiser".
*Janet Jackson´s song "Together Again" from 1997 and Håkan Hellström´s song "Känn ingen sorg för mig Göteborg" from 2000 share melodies from "Koshiro´s" work on "Bridge Zone" for "Sonic The Hedgehog" from 1991 [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MROVvcmSyeI] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJ0_2do-Ykk] .

References

External links

* [http://www.ancient.co.jp/ Ancient Corp. website]
* [http://www.squareenixmusic.com/composers/koshiro/ Comprehensive Yuzo Koshiro Profile at Square Enix Music Online]
* [http://www.ocremix.org/composer/id/1/yuzo-koshiro/ Composer profile] at OverClocked ReMix
* [http://yuzodatabase.en.telepolis.com/ Yuzo Database] (Spanish)
* [http://games.kikizo.com/features/yuzo_koshiro_iv_oct05_p1.asp "Yuzo Koshiro Interview"] Kikizo: (Oct. 14, 2005)
* [http://hg101.classicgaming.gamespy.com/opcfg/yuzointerview.html "The OPCFG Interview with Yuzo Koshiro"] Organization for the Preservation of Classic Forms of Gaming: Strangman, Rob
* [http://www.sega-16.com/Sega%20Stars-%20Yuzo%20Koshiro.php "Sega Stars" Yuzo Koshiro biography at Sega-16.com]
* [http://www.saindodamatrix.com.br/mob/archives/2006/12/yuzo_koshiro_th.html AcidZero, entry @ Meu (outro) blog]
* [http://www.megadriver.com.br MegaDriver] , a Brazilian band, have released an album entitled "Sword, Shurikins and Fists" [http://www.megadriver.com.br/mp3/YuzoTribute/MegaDriver%20-%202007%20-%20A%20Tribute%20To%20Yuzo%20Koshiro.zip] , a tribute to Yuzo Koshiro.