Lara de Wit (born 6 June 1983) is a

South African Australian South African Australians ( af, Suid-Afrikaanse Australiërs) are citizens or residents of Australia who are of South African descent. According to the 2016 Australian census, 162,450 Australian residents were born in South Africa, making up ...

pianist, violinist, arranger, composer and

music teacher Music education is a field of practice in which educators are trained for careers as primary education, elementary or secondary education, secondary music teachers, school or music conservatory ensemble directors. Music education is also a res ...

. She had been employed by

Opera Australia Opera Australia is the principal opera company in Australia. Based in Sydney, its performance season at the Sydney Opera House accompanied by the Opera Australia Orchestra runs for approximately eight months of the year, with the remainder of ...

until 2015, where she also worked as a

répétiteur A (from the French verb meaning 'to repeat, to go over, to learn, to rehearse') is an accompanist, tutor or coach of ballet dancers or opera singers. A feminine form, , also appears but is comparatively rare. Opera In opera, a is the person ...

. de Wit is also widely known for her covers of music from

video games Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device to gener ...

, film and theatre soundtracks, and

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

, featured on her

Twitch Twitch may refer to: Biology * Muscle contraction ** Convulsion, rapid and repeated muscle contraction and relaxation ** Fasciculation, a small, local, involuntary muscle contraction ** Myoclonic twitch, a jerk usually caused by sudden muscle con ...

and

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

channels, called ''"lara6683"''. In 2012, de Wit published her first album, ''Game On: 2 Player mode'', a collection of piano and violin covers from anime and video games. The album was co-produced and arranged along with American violinist Taylor Davis. In 2014, de Wit started releasing a series of

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

Biography

Lara de Wit was born in

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

, South Africa. When she was still a child, her family moved to Sydney, in Australia. She started playing piano at the age of 6, encouraged by her parents after her kindergarten teacher suggested them about Lara's potential affinity for music. She began playing the violin at the age of 9. While in high school, she studied ''"3 Unit Music"'' and specialised in

composition Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature *Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography *Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include v ...

. After completing her

AMusA The Associate in Music, Australia (AMusA) is a diploma awarded by examination to outstanding candidates in the fields of musical performance and music theory by the Australian Music Examinations Board (AMEB). Description AMEB administers music ...

in 1999, de Wit studied at the

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensive ...

and graduated with a

Bachelor A bachelor is a man who is not and has never been married.Bachelors are, in Pitt & al.'s phrasing, "men who live independently, outside of their parents' home and other institutional settings, who are neither married nor cohabitating". (). Etymo ...

of Music.

Career

Lara de Wit was the pianist/repetiteur for

's touring company, "Oz Opera", for four years. She performed with the

Australia Ensemble Australia Ensemble UNSW is an Australian chamber group active since 1980. The group was founded in 1980 as the University of New South Wales Ensemble after a proposal put to the University of New South Wales by musicologist Roger Covell and cl ...

on several occasions and toured nationally with prominent "popular" and "crossover" artists. de Wit is also a very experienced accompanist, frequently performing for student recitals, performances and exams, as well as accompanying a variety of musical groups, including the Collegium Musicum Choir at

UNSW The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensive ...

. de Wit has over ten years experience teaching piano and musicianship, both privately and in the classroom. She has been the

Musical Director A music(al) director or director of music is the person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert band, the ...

for numerous musical theatre productions and a keyboardist in several professional productions, including a tour to China and Japan in 2011. She has been commissioned to compose original musicals for youth musical theatre organisations as well as directing and performing the music for these productions. She has also received several prizes due to her high-level performances. In 2015, she worked as a

for an Australian high school, but quit in 2017 to become a full-time Twitch streamer, where she performs live to an audience of up to 900 concurrent viewers on an average day.

YouTube recognition and opportunities

Lara de Wit is passionate about music for video games (she received her first

Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It develops video games and video game consoles. Nintendo was founded in 1889 as by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produce ...

console Console may refer to: Computing and video games * System console, a physical device to operate a computer ** Virtual console, a user interface for multiple computer consoles on one device ** Command-line interface, a method of interacting with ...

during her childhood), and decided to use YouTube as a "showcase" for sharing her appreciation about this medium. She started her channel on 18 February 2009, and as of June 2020, its stats are: More than 810 videos published, over 357.000 subscribers and over 49.000.000 video views. Recognition that comes with YouTube popularity provides Lara opportunities to showcase her talent: * Early in 2012, she was invited, along with YouTube musicians Taylor Davis and Kyle Landry, to perform at the

Electronic Entertainment Expo E3 (short for Electronic Entertainment Expo or Electronic Entertainment Experience in 2021) is a trade event for the video game industry. The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) organizes and presents E3, which many developers, publisher ...

. * In April 2014, de Wit performed, along with pianist Kyle Landry, at the "Movie Music Night" and "Anime Music Night" concerts, in Singapore. * November 2020, Lara was invited to perform as a musical guest for The Golden Joystick Awards.

Discography

Albums

* ''Songs of Christmas'' (2017) – with Taylor Davis * ''Game On: 2 Player Mode'' (2012) – with Taylor Davis

Singles

Solo

# Walking in the Air (from the movie "The Snowman") # Game of Thrones main theme # Let it go (from the movie "Frozen")

with violinist Taylor Davis

# Fear Not This Night – Guild Wars 2 (ft. Malukah) (published 29 September 2012) # Assassin's Creed 3 Theme (published 7 November 2012) # Halo 4: To Galaxy (published on 9 November 2012) # Phantom of The Opera Medley (published on 27 August 2013) # A Whole New World (From "Aladdin") (published 19 April 2018)

with pianist Kyle Landry

# Realm of Secrets (Kyle Landry's original composition)

with violinist String Player Gamer

# 'Vamo' alla flamenco (from Final Fantasy IX) # Voices & Strings – feat. LadyGameLyric (from Final Fantasy IX) This discography was compiled from

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

, Loudr and

SoundCloud SoundCloud is an online audio distribution platform and music sharing website that enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is one of the largest music streaming se ...

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:de Wit, Lara 21st-century violinists Australian violinists Australian pianists Australian women pianists Living people Women violinists 1983 births 21st-century pianists 21st-century women pianists