Composer Yoko Shimomura to receive BAFTA Fellowship

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) has revealed that Japanese composer and pianist Yoko Shimomura will be awarded the BAFTA Fellowship at next week’s BAFTA Games Awards (8 April) for her contribution to the games industry.

Shimomura is the musical mind behind video game soundtracks including the Kingdom Hearts series, Final Fantasy XV, Mario and Luigi, Xenoblade Chronicles, Streets of Rage, the Mana series, Super Mario RPG, Live A Live, Radiant Historia, Parasite Eve, Breather of Fire and Street Fighter II. She receives the BAFTA Fellowship, the arts charity’s most prestigious honour, in recognition of her ‘outstanding and exceptional contribution to film, games or television’.

Shimomura said: ‘I am absolutely delighted to receive such an amazing and prestigious award as this, although, honestly speaking, I still cannot quite believe it. I am who I am today thanks to all the people who have supported me, allowing me to continue being involved with the music that I love and discovering the medium of games where that music can flourish. I am deeply grateful to everyone in the games industry, to those who ask me to write my music and to all those who listen to it. I would like for them, and for everyone who has been a part of my life, to join with me in celebrating this award. Thank you so much.’

Shimomura graduated as a pianist from the Osaka Junior College of Music’s Department of Instrumental Music before becoming a freelance composer. Her previous work includes collaborations with video games companies Capcom and Square Enix and spans a wide range of genres. She joins a legacy of BAFTA fellows including Judi Dench, Vanessa Redgrave, Martin Scorsese, Warwick Davis, Helen Mirren, Shuhei Yoshida, Hideo Kojima, Hideo Kojima and Shigeru Miyamoto.  

BAFTA CEO Jane Millichip said: ‘A pioneer of video game music, pianist and composer, Yoko has created unforgettable soundtracks for so many beloved games and paved the way for women in the industry at a time when it was overwhelmingly male-dominated. Her groundbreaking work has already inspired countless artists and will continue to resonate for generations.’