Koji Kondo

From Wind Repertory Project
Koji Kondo

Biography

Koji Kondo (b. 13 August 1961, Nagoya, Japan) is a Japanese music composer, pianist, and music director.

Kondo began taking lessons on the electronic organ from the age of five. He improved his skills in the instrument in a cover band that played jazz and rock music. Kondo studied at the Art Planning Department of Osaka University of Arts, but was never classically trained or academically dedicated to music.

With a love of arcade video games such as Space Invaders and the early Donkey Kong series, he said video games were the only place where he could find the kind of sound creation that he was looking for. He gained some experience in composing and arranging pieces, using the piano, and a computer by programming sounds in BASIC.

Kondo has worked for the video game company Nintendo since 1984. He is best known for his involvement in numerous contributions in the Super Mario and The Legend of Zelda series of video games, among others produced by the company. Kondo was the first person hired by them to specialize in musical composition for video games. Shortly after, Kondo was assigned as the sound designer on the 1985 game Super Mario Bros. His work on the game, especially the overworld musical theme, has often been cited as among the most memorable in video games.


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