Eimear Noone

Eimear Noone is one of the world’s most talented composer/ Conductors of today.    She has created the music scores for some of today’s biggest games. You can find her work in World of Warcraft, Starcraft 2, Diablo 3, and many, many more. She is currently on tour with The Legend of Zelda Symphony of the Goddesses. In case you haven’t heard it is a must see work of art!  Her work spans Classical repertoire, film scores, video game scores, movie trailers and pop/rock recording. As if that’s not enough she also teaches as UCLA  in the film-scoring department. I expect the best is yet to come from Eimear Noone.  I had the honor of interviewing Eimear Noone and here’s the woman herself…

One thing I want to mention before the interview. Eimear Noone is a wonderful person! I got in touch with her the first month I started the site and it wasn’t much at all! She told me “I’ll help in any way I can” and we have come a long way since then. Thanks for believing in me Mrs. Noone!

BBM: You worked on the 25th anniversary album for Zelda how did you get the opportunity? I've recorded quite a lot of video game score - especially for Blizzard Entertainment - so had the background the production was looking for.  My husband composer, Craig Stuart Garfinkle and I are co-producers of a show called "This Is Ireland" and when the Zelda team got in touch I invited them to come and see the show.  They invited me to be a part of the team that night.

BBM:  Hearing you talk about it on stage in Austin really made me feel you had a special place in your heart for Zelda. Who came up with the concept of Symphony of the Goddesses? I loved the name I felt it was very appropriate. Do you know who named it? Yes, I love the name too! The three Goddesses echo Irish mythology too.  I wear three black studs in my right ear in honor of the goddesses.  You'll have to ask the guys who came up with the name but it was probably composer/arranger Chad Seiter or producer Jeron Moore.

BBM: Did you have creative influence on the arrangement? The arrangements were almost finished when I came on board and the only influence I had was some technical points in the score pertaining to performance as it relates to the orchestra and I.

BBM: The Symphony of the Goddesses was a beautiful experience for me and I never wanted it to end. Did you have any personal favorites you performed?  Yes! I seem to change my mind all the time though! I love Chad's symphony and the Twilight Princess movement is a particular favorite although... there's a particularly difficult section for the orchestra and I at the end of the Ocarina of Time movement that I absolutely love because it's such a fantastic challenge.  Also, the sheer majesty of "Songs of the Hero" hits me a huge emotional wallop on stage.

BBM: Do you have a favorite game?  As far as the music for the Zelda games? Skyward Sword will always have a special place in my heart because we recorded the 25th Anniversary CD that Nintendo put out with the collectors edition.

BBM: Any funny/weird events ever occur while you’re performing on stage? Oh God, so many... Throwing the baton into the orchestra at Comic Con and almost taking out one of the first violinists!  Looking up to cue the principal bassoon of The Pittsburgh Symphony and bursting out laughing on the podium mid-concert;  he had a solo marked on the score as "drunken solo" and when I looked up at him he had his glasses on sideways and made the bassoon sound like it was slurring its way through maudlin ballads at 2am on a Saturday night in Dublin.

BBM: Could you tell me a little bit about your work with World of Warcraft/ Star Craft? How where you contacted to work on these major games?

It's two completely different long stories that would take up way too much type but suffice it to say that with Blizzard I also get the privilege of working on a cutting-edge creative team of people I love dearly.

BBM: Will you be working with Blizzard anytime soon? 

Yes, but that's all I can tell you ;)

BBM: Could you please give our readers the story of Mountjoy Prison performance?

That was actually an open rehearsal we held at Dublin's famous maximum security prison, Mountjoy.  I was being heckled by a prisoner in the audience and was rather irate as he was disturbing the rehearsal; our concert was the following day.  Instead of trying to out-shout him I walked right up to him, stick pointed firmly in his direction then turned the stick around in my hand and gave it to him.  He waved it about for a bit in a mocking sort of way until I pointed to the podium at which point he suddenly got VERY quiet.  After being egged on by the other prisoners he got up on the podium and conducted the Mozart Marriage of Figaro Overture to explosive applause.  After the piece ended he turned to me and whispered a very humble 'thank you very much';  It was one of the more memorable moments of my career. 

BBM: What are some words of wisdom you would give to a youth want to peruse  a in music?   Music really is one of the toughest careers out there for reasons that people might not expect and it's getting tougher all of the time.  You have to ask yourself 'can I live a happy life without being a professional musician - can I do without it?' If the answer is anything short of an emphatic 'No!' then you owe it to yourself to pursue something else.  Music has to be the air you breathe because that's what will sustain you through the tough parts.  For me, I've always known that this is who I am, not what I do.

BBM: I read on your site you where Irelands youngest professional female conductor. Where there a lot of challenges you had to overcome? Also what kept you so motivated? Wow, this is such a great question! I'm actually the only Irish female professional orchestral conductor at the moment (sheesh! What a long-winded title!).  You're right in assuming that I met some unique challenges as a female conductor and one of the things I love about Zelda fans is that most of them don't even consider the fact that there's a woman on the podium important at all!  This is exactly where we want to go in the world, to a place where gender doesn't even enter into people's thoughts in a situation where it really isn't relevant. 

BBM:  What first inspired you to conduct? I can't remember a time when I didn't know I was going to be a conductor and composer.  My mother really inspires me and we grew up without any intellectual/emotional barriers to our crazy ambitions.  Also my Dad was a great dreamer of dreams...                    

BBM: Who are your inspirations? My inspirations change at different stages of my life but at the moment I'm completely inspired by Irish boxer and Olympic Gold Medalist, Katy Taylor! Her story is inspirational and she managed, during the Olympics, to lift the spirits of the Irish people in dire recessionary times.

BBM: You have played so many amazing events what is your fondest memory? There are so many... Working with the Royal Philharmonic for the first time was pretty cool and putting on my high heels in the conductors dressing room at Kennedy Center whilst surrounded by black and white photos of the great maestros.

BBM: What are you working on in the future? I'm going to be touring with Symphony of the Goddesses for quite some time and making several more video game score recordings.  I'm also in preliminary production on a re-vamp of This is Ireland as a touring show.

BBM: You have been all over the world what is your favorite city/country? It may sound boring, but I love where I live in Malibu, California.  Paris is always incredible and as much as I love my adopted country, Ireland will always be my spiritual home.          .

BBM: The music you perform is beautiful do you ever get writers block and  how do you get passed it? When I'm writing my own music I definitely get writers block from time to time.  It helps to do something completely different, preferably mindless, that has nothing to do with music to let the brain relax.

BBM: What inspires you when you’re creating music? Absolutely everything... I once got a really interesting rhythm from a rickety old bike with a broken spoke that someone was riding past me on the street.

BBM: Also what is your favorite musical instrument? Erm... it's really more about who's playing the instrument.  I'm not a big fan of "experiencing" the Scottish bagpipes indoors - aside from that I like pretty much everything but have a bit of a soft spot for the bassoon and classical guitar.

BBM: Any Last words anything you would like to add to this interview?

You ask some pretty great questions Charles!