Jonne Valtonen

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jonne Valtonen

Background information
Born March 23, 1976 (1976-03-23) (age 32)
Turku, Finland
Genre(s) Orchestral
New Age
Electronic
Occupation(s) Composer
Arranger
Orchestrator
Musician
Instrument(s) Piano
Keyboard
Harp
Years active 1991-present

Jonne Valtonen (born March 23, 1976) is is an award winning Finnish composer, arranger and orchestrator. He is renown for his contributions in the field of video game music.

Contents

[edit] Life and early career

Jonne Valtonen was born on March 23, 1976 in Turku, Finland and was raised in Kaarina along with his brother. He began learning to play classical piano at the age of nine.

Valtonen’s first music compositions were done on his home computer, a Commodore 64. During his teen years, he became involved in the PC demoscene where he was able to pursue his passion for electronic music production. He has won several awards in this field: Between 1991 and 1996 Valtonen created music for one of the most widely popular groups in the demoscene at the time, the Future Crew. Eventually he became their lead composer under the pseudonym Purple Motion. Some of his best known compositions were UnreaL II (Second Reality), Satellite One, and Starshine.[1]

[edit] Working for the entertainment industry

In 1996 Jonne Valtonen began doing commission work for major game developers in Finland, namely Remedy Entertainment, Housemargue and Bugbear Entertainment.[2] During the same time, he served as the musical director for the TeatteriSusi theatre, where he composed music for several plays including Dracula, The Miser and Don Quijote. He then co-founded his company Valtone Oy in 1998, specialising in music productions for the entertainment industry. Continuing on this path, he also contributed two titles, in 2000 and 2002, for the Merregnon trilogy, an international soundtrack project featuring orchestral music by veteran video game composers from all over the world, such as Chris Hülsbeck and Yuzo Koshiro. In 2002, Valtonen's talent was recognized again when he was presented with the Best Soundtrack Award at the International Fest of Cinema & Technology for the movie House by the Sea, directed by Janne Ketola.[3] In 2004 Jonne Valtonen released his first professionally mastered audio CD, titled Musicdisk featuring tracks from his demoscene past.

[edit] Educational background

Jonne Valtonen has been studying classical composition at the Pirkanmaa Polytechnic in Finland for the past five years. He has received training in composition under the guidance of Hannu Pohjannoro, Oliver Kohlenberg, Kirmo Lintinen and Juhani Nuorvala. He has also studied under Magnus Lindberg and Jouni Kaipainen in Sannäs composition master class in 2006 and under Michael Nyman in composition master class at the Sibelius Academy.

[edit] Arrangements and orchestrations

Drawing on his strong background in live orchestra work and his studies, Jonne Valtonen has been arranging and orchestrating music for video game concerts since 2005. His work has been performed by highly respected orchestras and choirs around the world, as well as at concert halls including Sydney Opera House, Gewandhaus Leipzig, Max Fisher Music Center Detroit, Esplanade Singapore and Konserthuset Stockholm. His portfolio includes major franchises such as Super Mario Bros., The Elder Scrolls, Metal Gear Solid, The Legend of Zelda and Castlevania.[4] In 2007 he arranged and orchestrated music for SEGA Japan‘s arcade game series World Club Champion Football which was recorded with a live orchestra and choir in Prague.[5]

Currently Valtonen is arranging and orchestrating a full concert of 70 minutes which is entitled Symphonic Shades and is dedicated to the work of video game composer Chris Huelsbeck. It will be performed by the German WDR Radio Orchestra and a choir on August 23, 2008 in Cologne.[6]

[edit] Recent history

At the beginning of 2008, Jonne Valtonen took the position of the music lead for all live orchestra projects at Merregnon Studios, a company involved in productions such as the historic Symphonic Game Music Concerts at the Gewandhaus in Leipzig (2003-2007), PLAY! A Video Game Symphony (2006-2007), Distant Worlds: Music from Final Fantasy (2007-ongoing), Symphonic Shades - Huelsbeck in Concert (2008) and several live recordings for publishers/developers such as THQ USA, SEGA Japan and Square-Enix Japan.[7]

[edit] Trivia

Jonne Valtonen chose his demoscene pseudonym Purple Motion as a tribute to the British rock group Deep Purple.[8]

Valtonen has become very interested in the human voice. He sings in a mixed choir (Näsin Ääni, Tampere). He also started learning to play the harp.

[edit] Game soundtracks

  • 2008 Golf : Tee It Up!
  • 2007 Wonderland Adventures
  • 2005 Toy Golf
  • 2005 Fathammer Bowling
  • 2005 Rainbow Jek
  • 2005 Super Drop Mania
  • 2005 Tank Squad
  • 2005 The Chronicles of Narnia
  • 2004 Fathammer Classics Pack
  • 2004 Geopod XE
  • 2004 Insaniquarium Deluxe
  • 2004 Stuntcar Extreme Advanced
  • 2003 Stuntcar Extreme
  • 2003 Typer Shark Deluxe
  • 2003 Floboarding
  • 2003 Wordshark
  • 2002 Geopod
  • 2002 Wonderland series
  • 2001 Rally Trophy
  • 2001 Rampage Puzzle Attack
  • 2000 Puzzle Station
  • 2000 Project S-11
  • 1999 Drop Mania
  • 1999 Thrust, Twist + Turn
  • 1996 Alien Incident
  • 1996 Death Rally

[edit] Game music arrangements and orchestrations

  • 2008 Symphonic Shades - Huelsbeck in concert (full WDR concert dedicated to Chris Huelsbeck)
  • 2008 Grand Monster Slam (Opening Fanfare) for the WDR concert That’s Sound, that’s Rhythm
  • 2007 Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (Suite) for the Symphonic Game Music Concert
  • 2007 Secret of Mana (Suite) for the Symphonic Game Music Concert
  • 2007 World Club Champion Football 2006-2007 (Suite) for SEGA Japan
  • 2007 Commodore 64 (Suite) for PLAY! A Video Game Symphony
  • 2007 Commodore Amiga (Suite) for PLAY! A Video Game Symphony
  • 2006 Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (Wood Carving Partita) for the Symphonic Game Music Concert
  • 2006 Turrican 3 (Suite) for the Symphonic Game Music Concert
  • 2006 Super Mario Bros. (Suite) for PLAY! A Video Game Symphony
  • 2006 The Legend of Zelda (Suite) for PLAY! A Video Game Symphony
  • 2005 Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind (Suite) for the Symphonic Game Music Concert

[edit] Theater music

  • 2006 B. Virtanen
  • 2006 Hattifattenerrs Island
  • 2005 Mieletön raamatun historia
  • 2004 Circus Sergei
  • 2001 Tartuffe
  • 2000 Saituri
  • 1999 Don Quijote
  • 1998 Dracula
  • 1998 The Miser

[edit] Other works

  • 2007 Pianosonata I (under work)
  • 2007 Piece for chamber orchestra and soprano (under work)
  • 2007 Tales from the kitch - series (solopiano)
  • 2006 Production Values (trumpet miniconcerto)
  • 2005 Mimesis (viola solo)
  • 2005 Virtapiirileikki (contemporary music)
  • 2004 Aukeus! (contemporary music)
  • 2003 Unelma Mäntästä (short film)
  • 2000 House by the Sea (movie)

[edit] Discography

  • 2004 Musicdisk (first solo album)
  • 2004 Merregnon Soundtrack, Volume 2 (two titles, English and Japanese edition)
  • 2000 Merregnon Soundtrack, Volume 1 (two titles)

[edit] Awards

  • 2007 Adagio Composition Contest: Honorable mention, Elegiac (for string orchestra)
  • 2006 Isofestival: 2nd place, Mimesis for Viola
  • 2002 IFCT Award: Best Original Soundtrack, House by the Sea
  • 2000 Assembly: 1st place, Credits
  • 1993 Assembly: 1st place, Second Reality Soundtrack
  • 1993 Assembly: 1st place, Sundance
  • 1993 Aggressive Party: 1st place, Shadowrun
  • 1992 Assembly: 1st place, Unreal Soundtrack

[edit] References

  1. ^ Nectarine radio, Song charts (accessed 2008-03-08)
  2. ^ MobyGames, Valtonen's profile page (accessed 2008-03-08)
  3. ^ IFCT award, Official website (accessed 2008-03-08)
  4. ^ Concert producer Boecker speaks, Valtonen's arrangements (accessed 2008-03-08)
  5. ^ MUSA website list, Game credits WCCF (accessed 2008-03-08)
  6. ^ 4Players concert announcement, Valtonen works for Symphonic Shades (accessed 2008-03-08)
  7. ^ Symphonic Shades interview, Valtonen music lead at Merregnon Studios (accessed 2008-03-08)
  8. ^ Official Purple Motion message board, Purple Motion - why this nick name? (accessed 2008-03-08)

[edit] External links

Languages