Inon Zur

Biography

EMMY award-winner and three-time BAFTA-nominated composer Inon Zur is recognized as one of the most innovative and successful composers in the media industry today, internationally renowned for his emotionally dynamic original music scores for popular video game franchises including STARFIELD, FALLOUT, DRAGON AGE, PRINCE OF PERSIA, SYBERIA and THE ELDER SCROLLS.

Hailed as “The year’s [2023] best video game score” and “One of the best sci-fi scores ever created” by New Musical Express, Zur’s sci-fi opus STARFIELD is the first new universe in 25 years from Bethesda Game Studios, the award-winning creators of THE ELDER SCROLLS and FALLOUT series. Set hundreds of years in our future, STARFIELD is an epic about hope, our shared humanity, and answering our greatest mystery. The music of STARFIELD premiered in concert several years before the title’s release, debuting as a suite performed by the London Symphony Orchestra at Alexandra Palace, as well as being celebrated by The Game Awards with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl. In another industry first, Bethesda’s dedicated concert “STARFIELD: A Night With The London Symphony Orchestra” heralded the game’s launch with Inon as guest conductor, making for a truly memorable and unique musical event.

Inon composed over five hours of original score for STARFIELD, encompassing a classical symphonic palette, to echo the grandeur and mystery of space, together with crafted, organic electronic synth sounds, comprising minimalist elements from the environment, to build the soundscape of this epic sci-fi adventure. The philosophy was to encapsulate the contrast between the vastness of space and the human individual as the main drive for the score, whereby the music conjures emotions to reflect the mystery and new revelations of infinite outer space. Composition-wise, through live symphonic movements and electronic music suites, Zur created a STARFIELD musical universe with sonic shapes, harmonious and non-dissonant, that evoke a combination of human emotions but most of all curiosity of the unknown. The creative process started with a conceptual piece written very early on which inspired the Bethesda Game Studios team during the game’s development process and was the basis for STARFIELD’s signature theme with a six-note motif from which the score evolved.

Zur’s iconic themes and avant-garde scores for the FALLOUT series (Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel, Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas, Fallout 4, Fallout 76) have become synonymous with the franchise, described as “Sophisticated and atmospheric” (Classic FM) and receiving BAFTA nominations for FALLOUT 3 and FALLOUT 4. His best-selling soundtrack for FALLOUT 4, featuring the now globally recognized iconic motif, was celebrated as one of the best original video game scores by BAFTA, The Game Awards, and Classic FM. Zur’s original score for FALLOUT 76 was also released to universal praise, described by critics as “Superbly atmospheric music” (PushSquare), “Hauntingly beautiful” (IGN) and “An amazing ambient soundtrack,” (Kotaku) with Game Informer (the world’s #1 video games magazine) hailing the score as “The best soundtrack for the series yet.”

Classically trained with a flair for powerful, melodic orchestral writing, Inon conducts and records with the world’s most prestigious orchestras and his music is performed in symphonic concerts worldwide. He has collaborated with artists such as Imagine Dragons (‘Children of the Sky: A STARFIELD Song’) and Florence + The Machine (DRAGON AGE II’s ‘Varric’s Theme’) and his debut major label album release with Sony Masterworks, Into The Storm, was selected among Classical KUSC’s best albums of the year. Inon also composed the classical scores for the late, celebrated comic artist/writer Benoît Sokal’s beloved SYBERIA series, featuring the Budapest Symphony and solo performances by GRAMMY award-winning virtuoso pianist Emily Bear.

Zur’s rich portfolio also spans epic action/adventure genres and ethereal fantasy scores for other blockbuster entertainment properties including multiple entries in the PRINCE OF PERSIA series, THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE WAR IN THE NORTH (Classical MPR Best Video Game Soundtrack), DRAGON AGE: ORIGINS (Forbes’ “Top Video Game Soundtracks of All Time”), DRAGON AGE II (“Best Original Video Game Score” from Movie Music Awards UK) and Ubisoft’s first virtual reality game, EAGLE FLIGHT (Classic FM‘s Top Ten Video Game Soundtracks). Zur also composed, conducted and produced the original orchestral themes for DISNEY FANTASIA: MUSIC EVOLVED, the groundbreaking musical motion video game inspired by Walt Disney’s classic animated film FANTASIA.  Zur’s original score for FANTASIA: MUSIC EVOLVED was BAFTA-nominated and honored among the honorees of  Classic FM’s “The Best Video Game Music of 2014”. In addition to composing the original instrumental score, Zur produced the orchestral arrangement of QUEEN’s iconic “Bohemian Rhapsody” as well as collaborating with Harmonix and Disney to produce innovative new recordings of classical masterpieces by Bach, Dvořák, Liszt, Mozart, Mussorgsky, Tchaikovsky and Vivaldi.

In addition to his best-known, prolific work in video games, Inon has provided critically acclaimed scores for film and television including the EMMY winning documentary SABER ROCK as featured on CNN and the suspense-thriller RECLAIM for Lionsgate.  The latter film’s score was released by Silva Screen Records to widespread critical acclaim; “Zur’s music for Reclaim perfectly captures the human drama of the film’s story in powerful and deeply emotional fashion.” – Film Score Monthly. Previously Zur also scored the animated TV shows POWER RANGERS, DIGIMON and ESCAFLOWNE as well as the FOX Family movies AU PAIR and AU PAIR II, which debuted with the most viewers in the network’s TV movie history.

Most recently, Inon Zur scored Sony’s RISE OF THE RŌNIN, an epic open-world action role playing game set in late 19th century Japan during Bakumatsu, the final years of the Edo period. Zur drew inspiration for the score from the title’s historical setting, combining Japanese instruments and soloists with a more traditional orchestra to infuse the music with a sound authentic to the game’s storyline. Developed by Koei Tecmo’s Team Ninja and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment, RISE OF THE RŌNIN is available for PlayStation 5 and the original soundtrack is available on Milan Records through Sony Music.

A graduate of the Music Academy of Tel Aviv in his native Israel, Zur relocated to the United States and attended the film scoring programs at the Dick Grove School of Music and UCLA, studying under such luminaries as composers Henry Mancini and Allyn Ferguson and orchestrator Jack Smalley.  He resides with his family in Encino, California.