Meet Martin Leung, the Video Game Pianist! 19 year old Martin Leung is known across the internet, in the video game music industry, and to people around the globe as the Video Game Pianist. His specialty is playing video game music on the piano, with the distinction of being one of the world’s first young solo artists — if not the first — to be internationally recognized for the blindfolded performance of the classic Super Mario Brothers theme that has delighted over 40 million viewers on the Web.

With the video game industry delivering new music to its many fans, his live performances of video game music have drawn joyful responses at the Game Developers Conference (Walk of Game and Game Audio Network Guild Awards), Electronic Entertainment Expo, Penny Arcade Expo, the Hollywood Bowl as part of the Video Games Live show, and at solo recitals. Recently in Austin, Texas, he played 21 encores to a wildly enthusiastic crowd primed by the music of Halo, Sonic, Zelda, Earthworm Jim, and Final Fantasy. His work has attracted the attention of the iconic Tommy Tallarico and Jack Wall, MTV, “Nintendo Power,” England’s “Cube” magazine, Poland’s “PS Extreme” magazine, “Night Life Montreal,” and much more.

Martin was born in Hong Kong. Half Japanese and Chinese, he and his family moved to California when he was three years old. He grew up in a small city in Orange County called Irvine and attended pre-school, elementary, middle, and high school there. At the age of four, he started imitating and improvising songs his sister was playing on the piano. Noticing his talent, his parents had him start piano lessons.

As well as performing video game music, the Video Game Pianist, also known as Martin Leung, plays classical piano music. He is currently a sophomore at the Cleveland Institute of Music pursuing his Bachelor’s of Music degree. He studies with Paul Schenly and Daniel Shapiro.

Martin placed third at the 2002 Oberlin International Piano Competition and has received first prizes at the Los Angeles International Liszt (1998, 2000) and at the 2004 Los Angeles Philharmonic Kaper Awards, among other competitions. A laureate of the Young Musicians Foundation and National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts, Martin has soloed at the Carnegie Hall Isaac Stern Auditorium and with the Pittsburgh Symphony on “From the Top.” Highlights in 2005 recall appearances on Pianofest in the Hamptons, the American Liszt Society Festival in Nebraska, and Orange County Arts Awards; solo recitals at Chapman University and on the Keyboard Guest Artist Series at California State University-Long Beach.

Zelda Medley by Martin Leung

Visit www.videogamepianist.com for more details.