Stephanie Economou is an American composer, conductor, and multi-instrumentalist based in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. Her score won the first Grammy award given in the category of Best Score Soundtrack for Video Games and Other Interactive Media at the 65th annual ceremony.

Early life and education

Economou grew up in

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

, where she was involved in music programs at public school. She was inspired by her older sister Nicole to begin playing music, and chose the violin. Economou and her sister also grew up playing the

Sega Genesis The Sega Genesis, known as the outside North America, is a 16-bit Fourth generation of video game consoles, fourth generation home video game console developed and sold by Sega. It was Sega's third console and the successor to the Master Sys ...

and games on the first generation of

Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand that consists of four main home video game console lines, as well as application software, applications (games), the streaming media, streaming service Xbox Cloud Gaming, and online services such as the Xbox networ ...

. Economou attended the

New England Conservatory of Music The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a Private college, private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. The conservatory is located on Huntington Avenue along Avenue of the Arts (Boston), the Avenue of the Arts near Boston Symphony Ha ...

, where she studied composition. During her studies, she began to work with people studying at Emerson College to score music for their films. During her Master's degree for Composition for Visual Media at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

, she had an apprenticeship with

Harry Gregson-Williams Harry Gregson-Williams (born 13 December 1961) is a British composer, conductor, orchestrator, and record producer. He has composed music for video games, television and films including the ''Metal Gear'' series, '' Spy Game'', '' Phone Booth' ...

, who employed her following her graduation.

Career

Video games

Ubisoft approached Economou and employed her to initially work on ''

Assassin's Creed Valhalla ''Assassin's Creed Valhalla'' is a 2020 action role-playing game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. It is the twelfth major installment in the ''Assassin's Creed'' series, and the successor to 2018's ''Assassin's Creed Odyss ...

: The Siege of Paris''. She cited the work of

Sarah Schachner Sarah Schachner is an American composer and musician who has worked on the scores of films, television series and video games. She was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Video Games and Other Interactive Media for her ...

, who wrote the music for the main game, as influential on her scores for the expansions, as well as music by black metal bands Wilderun and Ari Mason. Economou composed the soundtrack to the ''Dawn of Ragnarök'' expansion of ''Assassin's Creed Valhalla''. The album for this soundtrack won the first ever

Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

award given to a game soundtrack. Economou was the only woman nominated in her category.

Films

Economou's film credits include scores to the films '' About My Father'', ''

Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken ''Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken'' is a 2023 American animated comedy film directed by Kirk DeMicco, co-directed by Faryn Pearl, and written by Brian C. Brown, Elliott DiGuiseppi and Pam Brady. Produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by ...

'', and ''

My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 ''My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3'' is a 2023 American romantic comedy film written and directed by Nia Vardalos. The third installment in the ''My Big Fat Greek Wedding'' franchise, the film stars Vardalos, John Corbett, Louis Mandylor, Elena Kampo ...

'' among others.

Filmography

Music department

As composer

Awards and honors

* Fellow for the Sundance Institute Composers Lab * 2018 NBC/Universal Composers Initiative * 2023: Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Video Games and Other Interactive Media * Board member of the Alliance for Women Film Composers.

References

21st-century American composers 21st-century American violinists Living people New England Conservatory alumni University of California, Los Angeles alumni Year of birth missing (living people){{Improve categories, date=November 2023