Background
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EDUCATION:
ELMHURST COLLEGE B.A. Music Education HARPER COLLEGE A.F.A. Music AWARDS & NOMINATIONS: G.A.N.G. ROOKIE OF THE YEAR G.A.N.G. Awards, GDC 2017 WINNER BEST INTERACTIVE SCORE - FOSSIL ECHO G.A.N.G. Awards, GDC 2017 NOMINEE VIDEO GAME SCORE OF THE YEAR - FOSSIL ECHO ASCAP COMPOSER'S CHOICE Awards, LA 2017 NOMINEE BEST AUDIO FOR AN INDIE GAME - FOSSIL ECHO G.A.N.G. Awards, GDC 2017 WINNER BEST GAME AUDIO - FOSSIL ECHO Indie Prize/Casual Connect 2016 NOMINEE BEST BRITISH GAME - GUNPOINT BAFTA Awards 2014 (Team) |
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Biography
John Robert Matz is a Chicago-based performer, arranger, composer, and music educator. Classically trained, he graduated with honors from Elmhurst College, majoring in music education, but with an emphasis on brass and vocal performance.
As a composer, he has incorporated his educational multi-disciplinary musical training throughout his works, performing a variety of wind, brass, string and percussive instruments in his game and film scores, and using his knowledge to stretch instrumental timbres and find new sounds. He is known for his work on video game scores as diverse as the BAFTA-nominated "Gunpoint", "Artemis: the Spaceship Bridge Simulator", "Rodina", and the award-winning “Fossil Echo”, as well as being a regular musical contributor to YouTube's "RocketJump" (and now Hulu's "RocketJump: The Show"). In addition, he is also active in writing concert works for band and orchestra. As a performer, he has sung in Chicago's Symphony Center, New York's Carnegie Hall, on multiple "Final Fantasy: Distant Worlds" concerts, including the "Distant Worlds II" album recording, toured as an operatic vocal soloist in Italy and central Europe, and has played trumpet in several Chicago-area musical ensembles, including serving as principal in the Elmhurst Philharmonic Orchestra. John Robert is a member of the Materia Collective, ASCAP, and the Game Audio Network Guild, and has recently been honored with two awards in the 2017 G.A.N.G. Awards, earning “Best Interactive Score” for his work on “Fossil Echo”, and being named “Rookie of the Year” for 2017. In his spare time, he enjoys worrying about his Steam backlog, reading good books, and removing cats from his MIDI controllers. He is currently working on music for the upcoming games "Mythgard", and "Dad by the Sword", and "Ambition: A Minuet in Power". For more information and music (including, invariably, rough cuts and works in progress), check out his SoundCloud page at: SoundCloud.com/John-Robert-Matz/ |
CREDITS:
"TCHIA" PS4/PS5/PC Composer/Orchestrator/Performer "MYTHGARD" PC/Mac/Mobile Composer/Orchestrator/Performer “AMBITION: A MINUET IN POWER" PC/Mac/Switch Composer/Orchestrator/Performer “ESPER: A FINAL FANTASY VI MUSICAL" UPCOMING MUSICAL/AUDIODRAMA PROJECT Co-Composer/Orchestrator/Performer/Actor “FOR THE KING” PC GAME Composer/Orchestrator/Performer “FOSSIL ECHO” PC GAME Composer/Orchestrator/Performer “DAD BY THE SWORD” UPCOMING PC GAME Composer/Orchestrator/Performer “ROCKETJUMP: THE SHOW” HULU EXCLUSIVE SHOW Contributing Composer/Orchestrator/Performer “ADVANCE - U” PC/WEB/MOBILE GAME Composer/Orchestrator/Performer “NEPTUNE, HAVE MERCY” UPCOMING PC GAME Composer/Orchestrator/Performer “DETECTIVE: BAVARIA” PC/WEB/MOBILE GAME Composer/Orchestrator/Performer “THE BALLAD OF WESTERADO” INTERACTIVE SHORT FILM/ADVERTISEMENT Composer/Orchestrator/Performer “STARR MAZER” - OST CONTRIBUTOR PC GAME Composer/Orchestrator/Performer “ALMIGHTREE” PC/IOS/MOBILE GAME Composer/Orchestrator/Performer “RODINA” PC GAME Composer/Orchestrator/Performer “ENEMY STARFIGHTER” - ALPHA SCORE PC GAME Composer/Orchestrator/Performer “THE LAST 5-SECOND FILM” PT. 1&2 YOUTUBE MASTERPIECE Composer/Orchestrator/Performer “TERMINAL VELOCITY” (W/FREDDIE WONG) YOUTUBE MASTERPIECE Composer/Orchestrator/Performer “WHO’S PLANE IS IT ANYWAY” (W/FREDDIE WONG) YOUTUBE MASTERPIECE Composer/Orchestrator/Performer “WEREWOLF IN A GIRLS SORORITY” ROCKETJUMP - MOVIE NIGHT ABSURDIST HORROR FILM Composer/Orchestrator/Performer “MOBILE SQUAD” (W/FREDDIE WONG) YOUTUBE MASTERPIECE Composer/Orchestrator/Performer “MEXICAN STANDOFF” (W/FREDDIE WONG, KEY & PEELE) YOUTUBE MASTERPIECE Composer/Orchestrator/Performer “MILKMAN 2: SPOILED CRÈME” (W/FREDDIE WONG) YOUTUBE MASTERPIECE Composer/Orchestrator/Performer “SKYHOOK” (W/FREDDIE WONG) YOUTUBE MASTERPIECE Composer/Orchestrator/Performer “FAR CRY VACATION” (W/FREDDIE WONG) YOUTUBE MASTERPIECE Composer/Orchestrator/Performer “THE GREATEST R/C CAR CHASE” (W/FREDDIE WONG) YOUTUBE MASTERPIECE Composer/Orchestrator/Performer “MEDIEVAL ZOMBIE DILEMMA” (W/FREDDIE WONG) YOUTUBE MASTERPIECE Composer/Orchestrator/Performer “BUNNY OVERLOAD” IOS/ANDROID/MOBILE GAME Composer/Orchestrator/Performer “OLD-SCHOOL VS. NEW SCHOOL” (W/FREDDIE WONG) YOUTUBE MASTERPIECE Composer/Orchestrator/Performer/Musical Thief “MOONSHOT” - ALPHA SOUNDTRACK PC GAME Composer/Orchestrator/Performer “EDGE OF SPACE” - ALPHA SOUNDTRACK PC GAME Composer/Orchestrator/Performer “GUNPOINT” (BAFTA AND IGF-NOMINEE) PC GAME Co-Composer/Orchestrator/Performer “ARTEMIS: THE SPACESHIP BRIDGE SIMULATOR” PC GAME Composer/Orchestrator/Performer “FINDING SERENITY” SHORT FILM Composer/Orchestrator/Performer “OF BEREN AND LUTHIEN” FEATURE-LENGTH FAN FILM Composer/Orchestrator/Performer “REALLY MADE IT” DOCUMENTARY Composer/Orchestrator/Performer “STERLING KAE AND THE RISE OF THE ORREALM” SHORT Composer/Orchestrator/Performer “MIRROR” SHORT FILM Composer/Orchestrator/Performer “D&D” SHORT FILM Composer/Orchestrator/Performer “PARAGON” (IN PROGRESS) WEBSERIES Composer/Orchestrator/Performer “WHAT WAS LOST” SHORT FILM Composer/Orchestrator/Performer “AN ARTEMIS EVENING” SHORT FILM Composer/Orchestrator/Performer “JACK FROST, P.I.” LIVE RADIO DRAMA/THEATRE PROD. Composer/Orchestrator/Performer “DISTANT WORLDS II: MORE MUSIC FROM FINAL FANTASY” Performer (Vocal) PERFORMED WITH: ELMHURST PHILHARMONIC Principal Trumpet ELMHURST COLLEGE WIND ENSEMBLE Principal Trumpet, Section Leader, Guest Conductor, Composer/Arranger ELMHURST COLLEGE CONCERT CHOIR & CHAMBER SINGERS Tenor Section Leader, Student Conductor ELMHURST COLLEGE JAZZ LAB BAND Section Trumpet, Featured Soloist SCHAUMBURG YOUTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Principal Trumpet, Section Leader, Composer-in-Residence |