Origa

Origa

Origa performing in 2013, at Anime Boston
Background information
Birth name Olga Vital'evna Yakovleva
Born October 12, 1970
Kochenyovsky District, Novosibirsk Oblast
Origin Russian
Japanese (resident alien)
Died January 17, 2015 (aged 44)
Tokyo
Occupation(s) Singer
Years active 1993–2015
Labels Gemmatika
Associated acts Yoko Kanno
Website Official Site

Ol'ga Vital'evna Yakovleva (Russian: Ольга Витальевна Яковлева, 12 October 1970 – 17 January 2015), better known as Origa, was a Russian singer who worked mostly in Japan.

History

Origa was born in small urban village Kochenyovo, 50 kilometers west from Novosibirsk. After graduating from music school in 1990, she took an opportunity to visit Japan in 1991 and finally contracted with the ROAD&SKY Organization in 1993. She later participated in several projects with various artists in addition to the Radio Japan Series and being part of the chorus for the Kobe earthquake disaster charity single. She released seven solo albums, two mini-albums, and 3 singles. She gained popularity outside of Japan with the release of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex and the subsequent original soundtracks, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex O.S.T. and Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex O.S.T. 2.

These were written by long-time friend and composer Yoko Kanno, and both the first season's theme song, Inner Universe (featuring boy soprano Ben Del Maestro) and the second season's theme song, Rise used Origa's vocals. Origa first performed with Kanno for ∀ Gundam, singing Gabriela Robin's "Moon" with the Gey's AX chorus. In 2005, Origa performed songs for the anime series Fantastic Children, most notably the ending theme "Mizu no Madoromi".

In 2006 Origa was involved in lyrics & vocal performance for the opening song ("Player") and the ending theme ("date of rebirth") from the movie Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex - Solid State Society. In 2007, Origa performed with Yoko Kanno for the Ragnarok 2 Concert. There, she performed all three Ghost in the Shell opening themes; "Player" for Solid State Society, "Inner Universe" for the first season, and "Rise" for 2nd Gig, and substituted for Ilaria Graziano on "Yoru_Vo", Pierre Bensusan on "ELM", and Gabriela Robin on "Torukia". She also performed alongside fellow vocalists Maaya Sakamoto and Mai Yamane and joined in singing selected songs originally performed only by Maaya.

On 19 December 2008, she performed at Sugizo's "Rise to Cosmic Dance" concert held at Tokyo's Shibuya-AX hall. She later appeared on his 2011 single "The Edge".[1]

In 2014, Origa came to Anirevo (Anime Revolution) in where she performed in concert.[2] She performed songs from the Ghost in the Shell series and a medley of many other theme songs. She also participated in a panel with Production I.G. CEO Mitsuhisa Ishikawa.

Death

On January 17, 2015, Origa died at the age of 44, due to lung cancer.[3]

Discography

Albums

Singles

Mini albums

Featured discography

References

  1. ↑ "SUGIZO announces anti-nuclear power song, "NO MORE NUKES"". tokyohive.com. 11 April 2011. Retrieved 21 January 2014.
  2. ↑ "Anirevo 2014 Guest: Origa". AniRevo 2015. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
  3. ↑ "Ghost in the Shell singer Origa passes away". Animenewsnetwork.com. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  4. ↑ "FINAL FANTASY XIII-2 オリジナル・サウンドトラック". Square Enix. Retrieved 2014-01-21.

External links