Draft:Yuka Kitamura
Yuka Kitamura is a Japanese composer and multi-instrumentalist. She began composing for video game studio FromSoftware in 2011, and composed music for many of their games, most notably serving as the lead composer for Dark Souls III. She left FromSoftware in 2023 to pursue freelance work.
Early life
[edit]Kitamura has been interested in video games and music composition since her childhood, citing Majora's Mask as one of her favorite games and an influence for her professional ventures.[1]
Career
[edit]Soon after graduating from the Sapporo Visual Arts College with a degree in music production,[2] Kitamura joined the FromSoftware sound department in 2011.[3] She has composed music for many of FromSoftware's games, notably taking the place of Motoi Sakuraba as lead composer for Dark Souls III.[4] She also composed music for Dark Souls II, Bloodborne, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, and Elden Ring.[5]
For unstated reasons, Kitamura announced on Twitter in August 2023 that she would be departing FromSoftware to work as a freelance composer.[6] Since then, she has composed music with fan artist Alex Roe,[7] and has announced that she is working on music for The Touhou Empires,[8] a video game which is as of November 2024[update] unreleased.
Musical style
[edit]Kitamura is noted for not only composing her music, but occasionally performing individual parts. In addition to performing as a vocalist, she plays both violin and cello, and has performed with all three in some of her compositions.[9] She frequently combines sampled sounds and live performances in her music, mixing between the two to create her works.[3]
References
[edit]- ^ Myers, Maddy (11 August 2024). "Elden Ring composer Yuka Kitamura learned piano using Zelda songs". Polygon. Retrieved 22 November 2024.
- ^ "Home". Yuka Kitamura (in Japanese and English). Retrieved 22 November 2024.
- ^ a b Madnani, Mikhail. "Yuka Kitamura Interview: We Speak to the Legendary Elden Ring, Bloodborne, Dark Souls, and Elden Ring Composer About Going Freelance, Music Composition, 2024 Plans, and a Lot More – TouchArcade". toucharcade.com. Retrieved 22 November 2024.
- ^ Helton, Billie (29 January 2019). "SOUND TEST: Dark Souls Trilogy + Bloodborne". Everything Is Noise. Retrieved 23 November 2024.
- ^ "Works". Yuka Kitamura (in Japanese and English). Retrieved 23 November 2024.
- ^ Yang, George (1 August 2023). "Elden Ring, Bloodbourne Composer Yuka Kitamura Exits FromSoftware After 12 Years". IGN. Retrieved 23 November 2024.
- ^ @_Yuka_Kitamura_ (April 28, 2021). "It's completely my private activity, but Alex Roe @RoeTaKa and I made a collaboration album..." (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ Serin, Kaan (4 February 2024). "Elden Ring, Bloodborne, and Dark Souls' seminal composer is now making music for the last game anyone expected". gamesradar. Retrieved 23 November 2024.
- ^ Motha, Sibonisile (29 March 2020). "Dark Souls & Bloodborne's Composer Is Returning For Elden Ring". ScreenRant. Retrieved 23 November 2024.