Masashi Hamauzu is a Japanese composer of classical music. His work draws inspiration from impressionist composers Debussy and Ravel while at the same time being compared to the impressionist reaction compositions of Les Six. He began his career as an in-house composer for a video game company working on Square Enix’s Final Fantasy series. His musical repertoire includes grand orchestrations for symphonies and intimate pieces for piano. Audiences have enjoyed seeing his work performed live in Asia, Europe, and North America. Hamauzu’s ever expanding musical interests led him to co-found IMERUAT, a musical duo which infuses his impressionistic style with elements from traditional Ainu music and instruments.
The son of a singer father and pianist mother, Hamauzu was born on September 20, 1971 in Munich, Germany. While his parents attended classes at the Munich Conservatory of Music, Hamauzu was taken care of by renowned choir master and conductor Karl Richter. After returning to Japan at age one, Hamauzu began developing his sharp sense of harmony when he joined the Roseanbeet Boys Chorus as a boy. Hamauzu began teaching himself composition in high school. He majored in vocal performance at Tokyo University of the Arts and also participated in band activities, and composed songs.
Following graduation, Hamauzu joined the music department at Square Enix, where his introduction of choral methods, modern harmonies and orchestration broke the mold of what game music could be. His work on the soundtracks for Final Fantasy XIII, SaGa Frontier 2, Final Fantasy X, Unlimited Saga, and Sigma Harmonics, among others, divided game music fans, but won him support among those willing to embrace variety. Hamauzu and his wife were also vocalists on the original recording for the groundbreaking One Winged Angel on the Final Fantasy VII original soundtrack. In 2007, he released the piano solo album Vielen Dank, which combined arrangements from his Square Enix compositions with original compositions. Hamauzu’s soundtrack for Final Fantasy XIII achieved worldwide recognition and critical acclaim when it was release in 2009, placing third on the Oricon chart, with particular praise given to the piano and violin compositions.
Hamauzu’s musical horizons broadened greatly In 2010, as he established MONOMUSIK as his own freelance music studio and his compositions and arrangements were featured in piano and orchestral concerts in and outside of Japan. In May 2011, Hamauzu held a solo concert in Paris, working with young, French musicians, then took part in LEGENDS, an orchestral concert of music from games developed by Nintendo, performed by the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra in Sweden. Hamauzu’s work was also featured in orchestral game music concerts in Germany, Poland, and the U.S.
Hamauzu created the music group IMERUAT in 2011 with Mina, a soloist from Final Fantasy XIII, as vocalist. The group fused Hamauzu’s impressionist compositions with Mina’s multilingual-multicultural expressions. IMERUAT performed in Poland, France, Switzerland, Japan, and the U.S. and released its first album, Black Ocean, in 2012. That same year, Hamauzu scored the anime soundtrack to Good Luck Girl!, contributed the three movement piece Sanzui to German piano virtuoso Benyamin Nuss’ Exotica, and provided the music to Sony’s 'α' CLOCK website. Hamauzu traveled Europe extensively in the second half 2012, including stops in Switzerland and France.
2013 saw Hamauzu return to two of his most beloved entries to the Final Fantasy catalog, as he arranged “The piano concert from Final Fantasy X” as part of FINAL SYMPHONY, performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Sinfonieorchster Wuppertal, took a prominent role in remastering the Final Fantasy X soundtrack for an HD rerelease, and contributed multiple songs to Lighting Returns, the concluding entry to the Final Fantasy XIII trilogy. Ever creative, he continued to expand his career by managing IMERUAT’s contemporary dance event, international performances and recordings, music for advertisements, and piano concerts.
Hamauzu’s interests and talents go beyond music. For IMERUAT, Hamauzu has been deeply involved in designing the CD jacket, brochures, posters, and goods, as well as directing the production, choreography, and filming of IMERUAT’s videos and live events. He has a strong interest in the indigenous people of the Japanese north, including the Ainu and Uilta (Orok) of Hokkaido.
Hamauzu’s most beloved recording is “Matthäus-Passion (1958)” played by Münchener Bach-Orchester and conducted by Karl Richter, who had cared for Hamauzu when he was a baby in Germany. It was after that he heard that he has been taken care of by Richter. Hamauzu now serves as consultant for the Roseanbeet music lab, where his own musical training began.
