Inon Zur

Inon Zur (Hebrew: ינון צור, [jiˈnon ˈt͡sur]) is an Israeli-born American composer of soundtracks for film, television, and video games. He has composed soundtracks for over 80 video games, which include Dragon Age, EverQuest, Fallout, Prince of Persia, Star Trek, the Syberia series, and Starfield. He has received multiple nominations, including three BAFTAs, and has won several awards, including an Emmy. Various music awards for his soundtracks on Men of Valor (2004), Crysis (2007), Dragon Age: Origins (2009), The Elder Scrolls: Blades (2019), Syberia: The World Before (2023), Starfield (2024) and Rise of the Ronin (2024).

Inon Zur was born in Israel. At the age of five, he was trying to compose harmonies with his mother's singing, and became inspired by classical music. He learned to play the French horn as a child, studied piano by the age of eight, and was studying composition by the age of ten. He graduated from the Music Academy of Tel Aviv, and spent four years in the Israeli Army in an elite Armored unit. He emigrated to the United States in 1990 to study at the Dick Grove School of Music for a year, and then under private tutor Jack Smalley, a television music composer, and others for two years at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Zur began his career in 1994 by working on soundtracks for movies, such as Yellow Lotus, featured at the Sundance Film Festival. He signed on to compose for Fox Family for six years, and made soundtracks for various children's television shows produced by Saban Entertainment, including Big Bad Beetleborgs, Digimon and Power Rangers. By 2002, he estimated that he had composed the soundtrack to over 360 Power Rangers episodes. His compositions for these programs were credited to Shuki Levy and Kussa Mahchi (an alias for Haim Saban), with Zur usually only being credited as a music producer. This was allegedly so the duo could collect the music royalties. Zur and all other composers working at this company agreed to give up the rights to their compositions prior to joining. He won his first award during this period in his career, a Telly Award for his work on Power Rangers: Turbo. While he enjoyed the work, he began to want to go work somewhere "more intriguing, more advanced, and basically a place that people really appreciate music more"; his agent overcame his initial reluctance and convinced him to work in the video games industry. His first video game soundtrack was 2000's Star Trek: Klingon Academy, which he started composing for the game in 1997. Zur moved on to prestigious titles, composing for the award-winning and critically acclaimed Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal in 2001 and Icewind Dale II in 2002, among many others. Icewind Dale II earned him the first of many nominations for video game music awards, that of the Game Audio Network Guild's Music of the Year award. He continued to work on movies and television programs during these years.

Zur has made dozens of cinematic scores for trailers. His last full movie soundtrack to date was that of 2014's Reclaim. He has worked on a few television series since then; his last traditional television soundtrack was for Ghost Whisperer in 2007, though he has composed music for webisode and Animated series since then. He continued to work on numerous video games, including Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones in 2005 and Crysis in 2007. He has garnered several nominations for video game music awards, including his first win, for Men of Valor in the Best Original Instrumental track category of the 2004 Game Audio Network Guild awards.

Zur penned the original musical score for Crysis, Dragon Age, Fallout, Syberia, and Starfield franchises.

The most notable titles Zur has composed for have been Icewind Dale II (2002), EverQuest Online (2003), Men of Valor (2004), Crysis (2007), Fallout 3 (2008), Prince of Persia (2008), Dragon Age: Origins (2009), Fallout: New Vegas (2010), World of Tanks (2010), Dragon Age II (2011), Fallout 4 (2015), Fallout 76 (2018), The Elder Scrolls: Blades (2019) and, most recently, Starfield (2023).

Zur's compositions have been played several times in live concerts. The first of these was a concert held in Seoul, South Korea, on May 30, 2006, dedicated to his music for Lineage II: Chronicle V: Oath of Blood. On August 20, 2008, music from his soundtrack to Crysis was played in Leipzig, Germany, at a Video Games Live concert. His music from Dragon Age: Origins and Prince of Persia was performed at the September 26, 2009 "A Night in Fantasia 2009" concert in Sydney, Australia, by the Eminence Symphony Orchestra. Zur was a special guest at the concert.

In an industry first, a dedicated concert of his music from Lord of the Rings: War in the North was performed each evening at the 2011 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles. The one-hour concert series was conducted by Zur and performed by The Hollywood Orchestra and Choir with the participation of The Lyris Quartet and solos from celebrated vocalist Aubrey Ashburn. He originally conducted and recorded the game with the London Philharmonia Orchestra and the Pinewood Singers Choir at the legendary Abbey Road Studios in London.