Origa

Origa

Origa in 2013
Background information
Birth name Olga Vital'evna Yakovleva
Also known as ORIGA
Born (1970-10-12)October 12, 1970
Kochenyovsky, Novosibirsk Oblast, Soviet Union
Origin Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan
Died January 17, 2015(2015-01-17) (aged 44)
Tokyo, Japan
Genres New-age, electronica
Occupation(s) Singer-songwriter, musician, composer
Instruments Vocals, piano
Years active 1991–2015
Labels ROAD & SKY Company, TOSHIBA EMI Records, GEMMATIKA Records
Associated acts Yoko Kanno, Seiya
Website origamusic.com

Olga Vitalevna 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 kilometres west of 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 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 "Moon" in concerts (in the CD "Moon" is performed by Kanno under the pseudonym of Gabriela Robin; Kanno never performed live). 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 the lyrics and 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" from Solid State Society, "Inner Universe" from the first season, and "Rise" from 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]

She lent her voice to the soundtrack for the video game Final Fantasy XIII-2. The game was released in Japan on December 15, 2011. The soundtrack was composed by Masashi Hamauzu, Naoshi Mizuta and Mitsuto Suzuki.

Beginning in 2013, she worked alongside musician Seiya and the duo have performed together worldwide.[2] In 2014, Origa attended Anirevo (Anime Revolution) where she performed in concert.[3] She performed songs from the Ghost in the Shell series and a medley of many other theme songs, including the debut of what would later become her last song, "Bells".[4] 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 heart failure.[5] Anime voice actress Jenya tweeted it was due to lung cancer.[6]

Personal life

In 1998, she married an Iranian producer Zhian Saedi who she met at a party where she was singing. She gave birth to their first son Ilya (Ilyusha) Saedi (born in 1998).

Discography

Solo career

Demos:

Studio albums:

Singles:

Mini albums:

Compilation albums:

References


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