Annual Game Music Awards 2011 :: Outstanding Artist Winners

SEMO is proud to present the winners of the 'outstanding artist' category of the Annual Game Music Awards 2011. These panel-voted officially recognised awards provide a thorough and wide-reaching recognition of achievement in game music over the last year.

Outstanding Contribution - Eastern Composer :: Motoi Sakuraba

Motoi Sakuraba innovated with several major new game scores this year, notably a dark symphonic accompaniment to Dark Souls and a rare solo Tales score. He successfully balanced such projects with solo albums and live appearances that focused on his core progressive rock style.

Runners-Up

Other Nominations

Outstanding Contribution - Western Composer :: Jason Graves

Jason Graves demonstrated his creativity with five high-powered sequels and two charity albums this year. He especially shone with Dead Space 2, where he took gamers on a frightening but touching musical journey that exceeded even the esteemed original.

Runners-Up

Other Nominations

Outstanding Contribution - Independent Composer :: Jake Kaufman

Jake Kaufman's transition from freelance composer to WayForward audio lead has given him more opportunities than ever. With projects ranging from the gothic Bloodrayne: Betrayal to the retro Mighty Milky Way, from cinema adaptations to Japanese shmup tributes, the artist has yet to let us down.

Runners-Up

Other Nominations

Outstanding Contribution - Newcomer :: Brian Tyler

Veteran movie and television composer Brian Tyler made his mark on the games industry this year with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and Need For Speed: The Run. The former especially brought the might of Hollywood with him with its action-packed focus and momentous production values.

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Other Nominations

Outstanding Contribution - Soloist :: Kanon

Classical-crossover artist Kanon won the hearts of listeners this year with her soprano vocals on The Last Story's "Toberu mono". Her clear and expressive bilingual performance conveyed both the humanity and spirituality of Nobuo Uematsu's creation.

Runners-Up

Other Nominations

Outstanding Contribution - Ensemble :: Quartet San Francisco

With their performance of Dead Space 2's "Lacrimosa", the Quartet San Francisco demonstrated how small ensembles can bring much big budget productions. In this case, the performers communicated Isaac's fear and loneliness while carefully interpreting the complex source material.

Runners-Up

Other Nominations