Lara de Wit

Lara de Wit
Born Durban, South Africa
Genres Video game music, anime music, classical crossover, classical, film score, pop, soundtrack
Occupation(s) Violinist, pianist, arranger, composer
Instruments Violin, piano, Saxophone, 16th Century Pipe Organ

Lara de Wit is an Australian pianist, violinist, arranger, and composer. She is currently employed by Opera Australia, where she works also as a répétiteur.[1] de Wit is also widely known for her covers of music from videogames, soundtracks and anime featured on her YouTube channel, called "Lara6683".[2]

In 2012, de Wit published her first album, Game On: 2 Player mode, a collection of piano and violin covers from anime and video games. The album was co-produced and arranged along with American violinist Taylor Davis. In 2014, de Wit started releasing a series of singles.

Biography

Lara de Wit was born in Durban, South Africa. When she was still a child, her family moved to Sydney, in Australia. She started playing piano at the age of 6,[3] encouraged by her parents after that her kindergarten teacher suggested them about Lara's potential affinity for music.[4] She began playing the violin at the age of 9.[3] While in high school, she studied "3 Unit Music" and specialised in composition.[5] After completing her AMusA in 1999, de Wit studied at the University of New South Wales and graduated with a Bachelor of Music.[1]

Career

Lara de Wit was the pianist/repetiteur for Opera Australia's touring company, "Oz Opera", for four years.[1] She performed with the Australia Ensemble on several occasions and toured nationally with prominent "popular" and "crossover" artists. de Wit is also a very experienced accompanist, frequently performing for student recitals, performances and exams, as well as accompanying a variety of musical groups, including the Collegium Musicum Choir at UNSW.[1] de Wit has over ten years experience teaching piano and musicianship, both privately and in the classroom. She has been Musical Director in numerous musical theatre productions and a keyboardist in several professional productions, including a tour to China and Japan in 2011.[1] She has been commissioned to compose original musicals for youth musical theatre organisations as well as directing and performing the music for these productions. She received also several prizes due to her high-level performances.[5] As of 2015, she continues her work for Opera Australia at the Sydney Opera House.

YouTube recognition and opportunities

Lara de Wit is passionate about music for videogames (she received her first Nintendo console during her childhood), and decided to use YouTube as a "showcase" for sharing her appreciation about this genre. She started her channel on 18 February 2009, and channel's stats are: 195 videos published, over 140.000 subscribers and over 24.000.000 video views.[2] Recognition that comes with YouTube popularity provides Lara opportunities to showcase her talent:

– Early in 2012 she was invited, along with YouTube musicians Taylor Davis and Kyle Landry, to perform at the E3 Expo.[6]

– In April 2014, de Wit performed, along with pianist Kyle Landry, at the "Movie Music Night" and "Anime Music Night" concerts, in Singapore.[7][8]

Full discography

Albums

Game On: 2 Player Mode – Lara de Wit and Taylor Davis (2012)

  1. Assassin's Creed 3 Theme
  2. Passion (from "Kingdom Hearts II")
  3. Fairy Tail Theme
  4. Aeris' Theme (from "Final Fantasy VII")
  5. Guile's Theme (from "Street Fighter II")
  6. Sons of Liberty (from "Metal Gear Solid 2")
  7. Roxas theme (from "Kingdom Hearts II")
  8. Chocobo Medley
  9. To Galaxy (from "Halo 4")
  10. An End, Once and for All (from "Mass Effect 3")
  11. Pokémon Theme
  12. Eyes on Me (from "Final Fantasy VIII")
  13. Song of Storms (from "Zelda OoT")

Singles

Solo

  1. Walking in the Air (from the movie "The Snowman")
  2. Game of Thrones main theme
  3. Let it go (from the movie "Frozen")

with Taylor Davis

  1. Assassin's Creed 3 Theme (published on 7 November 2012)
  2. Halo 4: To Galaxy (published on 9 November 2012)
  3. Phantom of The Opera Medley (published on 27 August 2013)

with Malukah

  1. Fear Not This Night - Guild Wars 2

with Kyle Landry

  1. Realm of Secrets (Kyle Landry's original composition)

with String Player Gamer

  1. 'Vamo' alla flamenco (from Final Fantasy IX)
  2. Voices & Strings – feat. LadyGameLyric (from Final Fantasy IX)

This discography was compiled from iTunes[9] and Loudr[10]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 "Lara de Wit biography". ameb.nsw.edu.au. Retrieved 23 July 2014.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Lara6683 channel". Youtube.com. Retrieved 23 July 2014.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Lara de Wit interview". mediasuspects.com. Retrieved 23 July 2014.
  4. ↑ "Lara plays videogame music interview". walyou.com. Retrieved 23 July 2014.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Encore – Lara de Wit profile". http://encore.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au''. Retrieved 23 July 2014.
  6. ↑ "E3 Expo 2012 performance". taylordavisviolin.com. Retrieved 23 July 2014.
  7. ↑ "Movie Night Music concert". eventfinda.sg. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
  8. ↑ "Anime Night Music concert". eventclique.com. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
  9. ↑ "Lara de Wit on iTunes". itunes.apple.com. Retrieved 23 July 2014.
  10. ↑ "Lara de Wit on Loudr". loudr.fm. Retrieved 23 July 2014.

External links