Gordy Haab (born 1976) is an American film, video game and television composer based in

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. His work has been featured in works associated with franchises including '' Star Wars Battlefront II'', for which he won Video Game Score of the Year from the

American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadc ...

. Haab is also known for his work on Microsoft's '' Halo Wars 2'', for which he was nominated for a 2017 HMMA award. His score for

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' '' Star Wars: Battlefront'', won three awards at the 2016 GDC G.A.N.G. Awards: Music of the Year, Best Interactive Score, and Best Instrumental Score. Haab was also nominated for a

BAFTA The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...

Games Awards for his work on ''Star Wars: Battlefront''. His work has been covered by publications, including the ''

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'', which said, "''Star Wars Battlefront'' is sounding better and better every day...this new Star Wars music will light your saber." In 2015, Hardcore Gamer was among the first to link Haab to his inspiration by saying, "''Star Wars Battlefront'' features the best game score

John Williams John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (November 15, 2022)Classic Connection review, ''WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who w ...

never wrote." The ''

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'' has also recognized Haab's work, saying "the B-side to John Williams' score," and ''

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'' quoted Steve Schnur, the president of music for EA, as saying, "Gordy is one of the few composers in the world on

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' short list."

Early life

Haab developed an early interest in music when he was six and was particularly moved by the score of the film ''

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'' (1982). Haab decided to pursue a career in the industry by attending the

Virginia Commonwealth University Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is a Public university, public research university in Richmond, Virginia, United States. VCU was founded in 1838 as the medical department of Hampden–Sydney College, becoming the Medical College of Virgin ...

, where he learned to compose music by hand and it remains his preferred composition method, telling The Sound Architect that, "I say this not to discredit the use of technology, because it also plays a major role in my process. But a piano, a blank page, and a pencil – and no screens glowing in my face – has a way of quieting my soul and allowing me to just, write." Haab received a bachelor's degree in Jazz Music Composition in 1999. He then went on to the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

, where he received his master's in Scoring for Motion Pictures in 2001.

Career

Among other projects, Haab scored Activision/AMC's '' The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct'', based on the TV series, and Microsoft's '' Kinect: Star Wars,'' which won Best Music at the Hollywood Music In Media Awards. Haab continues to compose the music for Electrionic Arts and

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's '' Star Wars: The Old Republic'', for which he was awarded Best Original Soundtrack and Best Instrumental Music at the 10th Annual GDC G.A.N.G. Awards. He has recorded and conducted his music with various groups from all around the world, including the

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, the

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, the Nashville Symphony, London Voices and the Hollywood Studio Orchestra. Haab's other film, television and video game credits include Anchor Bay's '' Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon''; MTV's '' The Truth Below''; Dave Barry's 'Guide to Guys;' Lionsgate's 'War;' The

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's ''The Judds''; ''Roadside Attractions'' ''Shrink''; ABC's ''

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''; VH-1's ''

Scream Queens A scream queen (a wordplay on ''screen queen'') is an actress who is prominent and influential in horror films, either through a notable appearance or recurring roles. Scream king is the equivalent for men. Notable scream queen examples include ...

''; and

LucasArts Lucasfilm Games (known as LucasArts between 1990 and 2021) is an American video game brand licensing, licensor, former video game developer and video game publisher, publisher, and a subsidiary of Lucasfilm. It was founded in May 1982 by George ...

' '' Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings''.

Discography

Films

Video games

Awards

References

External links

*
Gordy Haab's Official WebsiteVariety Magazine on 'Halo Wars 2'2017 Grammy's Screen Categories- Variety Magazine
{{DEFAULTSORT:Haab, Gordy 1976 births American film score composers American male film score composers American male television composers American television composers American video game composers Grammy Award winners Living people Musicians from Richmond, Virginia