Inon Zur facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Inon Zur
Zur in 2018
Background information
Native name	ינון צור
Born	Error: Need valid birth date: year, month, day Israel
Genres	Video game music Film score Trailer music
Occupation(s)	Composer
Years active	1994–present

Inon Zur is a composer from Israel and America. He creates music for movies, TV shows, and video games. He has made music for more than 80 video games. Some of these include Dragon Age, EverQuest, Fallout, Prince of Persia, Star Trek, and Starfield.

Inon Zur has been nominated for many awards. These include three BAFTA awards. He has also won several awards, like an Emmy. His music for games like Men of Valor (2004), Crysis (2007), Dragon Age: Origins (2009), The Elder Scrolls: Blades (2019), Syberia: The World Before (2023), Starfield (2024), and Rise of the Ronin (2024) has won special music awards.

Early Life and Education

Inon Zur was born in Israel. When he was five, he loved trying to make music with his mother's singing. Classical music really inspired him. He learned to play the French horn as a child. By age eight, he studied piano. He was learning to compose music by age ten.

He graduated from the Music Academy of Tel Aviv. Then, he spent four years in the Israeli Army. He was part of a special armored unit. In 1990, he moved to the United States. He studied at the Dick Grove School of Music for a year. After that, he learned from private teachers, including TV music composer Jack Smalley. He also studied at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Music Career

Zur started his career in 1994. He worked on music for movies like Yellow Lotus. This movie was shown at the Sundance Film Festival. He then worked for Fox Family for six years. He created music for many children's TV shows. These shows were made by Saban Entertainment. Some popular ones were Big Bad Beetleborgs, Digimon, and Power Rangers. By 2002, he had composed music for over 360 Power Rangers episodes.

He won his first award, a Telly Award, for his work on Power Rangers: Turbo. Even though he enjoyed TV work, he wanted to try something new. He wanted to work where music was more appreciated. His agent convinced him to try the video game industry. His first video game music was for Star Trek: Klingon Academy in 2000. He started composing for it in 1997.

Zur then worked on famous games. These included Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal in 2001 and Icewind Dale II in 2002. Icewind Dale II earned him his first nomination for a video game music award. He was nominated for Music of the Year by the Game Audio Network Guild. He also continued to work on movies and TV shows during these years.

Zur has created many cinematic scores for movie trailers. His last full movie soundtrack was for Reclaim in 2014. He has also worked on some TV series. His last traditional TV soundtrack was for Ghost Whisperer in 2007. Since then, he has composed music for webisodes and animated series.

He continued to work on many video games. These include Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones in 2005 and Crysis in 2007. He has received several nominations for video game music awards. He won his first award for Men of Valor in 2004. This was for the Best Original Instrumental track.

Zur wrote the main music for the Crysis, Dragon Age, Fallout, Syberia, and Starfield game series.

Some of the most well-known games Zur has composed for are:

• Icewind Dale II (2002)
• EverQuest Online Adventures (2003)
• Men of Valor (2004)
• Crysis (2007)
• Fallout 3 (2008)
• Prince of Persia (2008)
• Dragon Age: Origins (2009)
• Fallout: New Vegas (2010)
• World of Tanks (2010)
• Dragon Age II (2011)
• Fallout 4 (2015)
• Fallout 76 (2018)
• The Elder Scrolls: Blades (2019)
• Starfield (2023)

Live Performances

Inon Zur's music has been played in live concerts many times. The first concert was in Seoul, South Korea, on May 30, 2006. It featured his music for Lineage II: Chronicle V: Oath of Blood. On August 20, 2008, music from his Crysis soundtrack was played. This was in Leipzig, Germany, at a Video Games Live concert.

Music from his Dragon Age: Origins and Prince of Persia was performed. This happened on September 26, 2009. It was at the "A Night in Fantasia 2009" concert in Sydney, Australia. The Eminence Symphony Orchestra played the music. Zur was a special guest at this concert.

In 2011, a special concert of his music was held. It featured music from Lord of the Rings: War in the North. This concert happened every evening at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles. Zur conducted the one-hour concert series himself. The Hollywood Orchestra and Choir performed. The Lyris Quartet and singer Aubrey Ashburn also participated. He had originally recorded the game's music with the London Philharmonia Orchestra and the Pinewood Singers Choir. This was done at the famous Abbey Road Studios in London.

In 2018, Zur's music from the Fallout and The Elder Scrolls series was performed. This was at the Eventim Apollo in London. Bethesda Game Studios and War Child (charity) co-hosted the live concert. The London Symphony Orchestra performed Zur's Starfield score in 2021. This was at Bethesda's 10th Anniversary The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim concert.

The Hollywood Bowl Orchestra held a 10-year concert on June 25, 2023. It featured well-known video game soundtracks. The concert included Zur's Starfield theme. In March 2025, Zur and Imagine Dragons went on tour together. Zur composed music with the Los Angeles Film Orchestra for Imagine Dragons' Hollywood Bowl concerts.

Legacy and Impact

Inon Zur's music is in many top-selling game series. He is known as one of the best orchestral composers in the video game industry. Variety magazine listed him as one of the top video game composers. He was also ranked 17th among the 40 greatest video game composers of all time by composercode.com.

In the film industry, Zur is known for creating music for movie trailers. He has worked with BMG Production Music. His music has been used in trailers for films like Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, The Hobbit, and Avengers: Age of Ultron. He has also worked with NCSOUND on video game projects.

Many artists have covered his songs. Raney Shockne and Elizaveta covered Zur's "I am the One" song from Dragon Age: Origins. This cover was for Dragon Age: Inquisition. In 2023, Zur became a new member of The Recording Academy.

Inon Zur and Imagine Dragons created a song together called Children of the Sky. This song was part of the Lonestar Freedom Mission. It was on the Intuitive Machines' Athena moon lander. The goal was for it to be the first song broadcast from the moon.

Musical Style and Influences

Zur's music often uses full orchestras and choirs. For some games, like Prince of Persia, he uses ethnic instruments. These include Arabic flutes and the woodwind duduk. He often works with the Northwest Sinfonia orchestra from Seattle. However, he sometimes uses other orchestras. When he works with a real orchestra, he always conducts it himself.

He has mentioned some of his musical inspirations. These include classical artists like Sergey Prokofiev, Igor Stravinsky, and Beethoven. He also likes movie composers such as John Williams and Jerry Goldsmith. Jazz artists like George Gershwin and Henry McFeeny also influence him.

Zur hopes to compose music that is not part of a larger project one day. But he finds that deadlines and feedback from game developers are important for his work. He believes his music sounds best when it is heard within the game or movie it was made for. However, he also feels that performing the music by itself turns it into "an art form on its own." Zur sometimes works with other musicians. For example, he worked with Florence and the Machine. They created a special version of "I'm Not Calling You A Liar" for the Dragon Age II soundtrack.

Zur is usually asked to compose music when a game is almost finished. This is earlier than for films or TV shows. He finds video game music composition more "flexible." He thinks it's important to play a game before he writes music for it. This is true even if it's just an early version. Instead of writing music based on the game's setting, Zur focuses on the emotions he wants players to feel.

He believes music technology has improved a lot. It no longer limits his creativity. However, he feels that game music budgets can limit what he can create. Zur is known in the industry for being a very fast composer. He thinks this is because he composes "intuitively." He does not spend a lot of time planning. When he is not composing, Zur enjoys playing video games. He especially likes games he has composed for. He also likes playing basketball and spending time with his family. In the future, he would like to work on children's games. He also wants to create soundtracks that include jazz music.

Works

Video Games

Films

Television

Awards and Nominations

See also

In Spanish: Inon Zur para niños