is a Japanese–American singer-songwriter, composer, video game developer, and

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 ...

streamer Streamer or streamers may refer to: * a person who streams online on an internet platform like twitch or youtube * Pennon, a small pointed flag * Streamer, a kind of confetti consisting of strips of paper or other material * Streamer, a common nam ...

. She is best known as the lead composer and sound designer for the

tower defense Tower defense (TD) is a subgenre of strategy games where the goal is to defend a player's territories or possessions by obstructing the enemy attackers or by stopping enemies from reaching the exits, usually achieved by placing defensive struc ...

game ''

Plants vs. Zombies ''Plants vs. Zombies'' is a video game franchise developed by PopCap Games, a subsidiary of Electronic Arts (EA). The series follows the affiliates of David "Crazy Dave" Blazing as they use his plants to defend against a zombie invasion, led ...

'' and the creator of the acclaimed indie RPG '' Rakuen''. Shigihara has worked on over 30 other published video game titles including ''

Deltarune ''Deltarune'' is a role-playing video game developed by Toby Fox. The player controls a teenage human, Kris, who is destined to save the world together with Susie, a monster, and Ralsei, a prince from the Dark World. During their quest to seal t ...

'', ''

World of Warcraft ''World of Warcraft'' (''WoW'') is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) released in 2004 by Blizzard Entertainment. Set in the ''Warcraft'' fantasy universe, ''World of Warcraft'' takes place within the world of Azeroth ...

'', ''

To the Moon ''To the Moon'' is a psychological drama adventure game developed and published by Freebird Games. It was originally released for Windows in November 2011, with ports later being released for Mac OS X, Linux, Android, iOS and Nintendo Switc ...

'', High School Story and the 5th Anniversary Edition of ''

Super Meat Boy ''Super Meat Boy'' is a 2010 platform game designed by Edmund McMillen and Tommy Refenes under the collective name of "Team Meat". It was self-published as the successor to ''Meat Boy'', a 2008 flash game designed by McMillen and Jonathan McEnte ...

''. She co-created the ending theme song for '' Minecraft: The Story of Mojang'' with

C418 Daniel Rosenfeld (born 9 May 1989), better known by his stage/online name C418 (pronounced "see four eighteen"), is a German musician, producer and sound engineer, best known as the composer and sound designer for the sandbox video game ''Minec ...

and worked together with Yasunori Mitsuda on the official Square Enix Chrono Trigger/Chrono Cross 20th Anniversary Album.

Biography

Born to a Japanese father and a

French American French Americans or Franco-Americans (french: Franco-Américains), are citizens or nationals of the United States who identify themselves with having full or partial French or French-Canadian heritage, ethnicity and/or ancestral ties. ...

mother, Shigihara grew up in both the United States and Japan. She was classically trained on the piano for 11 years and taught herself guitar and drums. While studying International Relations, Business and Computer Science at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

, she was given an old version of ''Cakewalk'' (known as ''Sonar'' before 2018) which she used to start learning about mixing, arranging and production by recreating old video game soundtracks and composing her own songs. After a friend leaked her original material to record companies in Japan, Shigihara was offered record contracts as a singer there, but ended up turning them down for personal reasons. Shortly after returning to the U.S, Shigihara took a job as the sound director for a company that produced an audio talk show and English learning materials through Apple Japan. She also released a studio album and composed her first video game soundtrack for a small casual game called ''Wobbly Bobbly''. She stated that she would work voluntarily, and soon the company liked her work and paid her to create music for several subsequent projects. From there she built up her portfolio and has worked on over 30 published titles including ''Plants vs. Zombies'', ''Deltarune'', ''World of Warcraft'', ''Minecraft'' and the indie RPG ''

''. She participated in

Akira Yamaoka is a Japanese composer and music producer. He is best known for composing music for several video games in the ''Silent Hill'' series by Konami, among other games. Yamaoka also worked as a producer on the series, as well as composing for the '' ...

's charity album '' Play for Japan'' where she contributed an original song called "Jump", alongside other composers like

Nobuo Uematsu is a Japanese composer and keyboardist best known for his contributions to the ''Final Fantasy'' video game series by Square Enix. A self-taught musician, he began playing the piano at the age of twelve, with English singer-songwriter Elton Jo ...

and

Yasunori Mitsuda is a Japanese composer, musician, and sound producer. He is best known for his work in video games, primarily for the ''Chrono (series), Chrono'', ''Xeno (series), Xeno'', ''Shadow Hearts'', and ''Inazuma Eleven (series), Inazuma Eleven'' franch ...

. On November 16, 2011, she released her single "Cube Land" in relation to ''Minecraft'' and ''Plants vs. Zombies''. Shigihara published the adventure game ''Rakuen'' in 2016. Shigihara is a Christian. Shigihara is a Twitch streamer who streams weekly performing songs she composed, as well as English and Japanese covers of various music genres.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

Soundtrack albums

Shigihara's works also include: * ''

'' (Toby Fox/2018), arranged/performed "Don't Forget" and "Until Next Time" * ''Farmer in the Sky'', director, writer, composer * ''Band Saga'' (Rekcahdam, Playism/2016), singer * ''Cosmic Star Heroine'' (Zeboyd Games/2016), singer/lyricist "Lauren’s Song" * ''Chrono Trigger & Chrono Cross Arrangement Album/Harukanaru Toki no Kanata e'' () (Yasunori Mitsuda/2015), contributing Lyricist/Arranger/Singer * ''CHUNITHM'' (Sega/2015), Sung "Alma's Theme" by Yasunori Mitsuda *

Penny Arcade ''Penny Arcade'' is a webcomic focused on video games and video game culture, written by Jerry Holkins and illustrated by Mike Krahulik. The comic debuted in 1998 on the website ''loonygames.com''. Since then, Holkins and Krahulik have establish ...

's "On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness 4" (2013), voice of MistleToe * '' Minecraft: The Story of Mojang'', co-created ending theme song * ''Aether (The Basement Collection)'' (Edmund McMillen, Tyler Glaiel/2012), original song * ''

Theme Park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central ...

'' (Electronic Arts/2011), lead composer * ''Ghost Harvest'' (Electronic Arts, 8lb Gorilla/2011), composer * ''Sweet World'' (Kabam/2010), lead composer and sound designer * ''

Minesweeper A minesweeper is a small warship designed to remove or detonate naval mines. Using various mechanisms intended to counter the threat posed by naval mines, minesweepers keep waterways clear for safe shipping. History The earliest known usage of ...

'' (Microsoft, TG Xbox 360/2009 TBA), lead composer * ''Quintessence: The Blighted Venom'' (Kan Gao/2009 TBA), ending theme lead vocalist * ''

Domino Master ''Domino Master'' is a casual game based on dominos for Microsoft Windows, Windows and Xbox 360 developed by TikGames and published by Microsoft Game Studios. ''Domino Master'' was originally released for Windows 98 in 2004 by TikGames and has b ...

'' (Microsoft, TG Xbox 360/2008), assistant sound designer * ''U.S.G. A New Beginning'' (GPTouch/2008), ending theme composer and lead vocalist * ''Interpol 2: Most Wanted'' (Big Fish Games, Tikgames/2008), contributing composer * ''Waterscape Solitaire: American Falls'' (Tikgames/2007), lead composer and sound designer * '' Interpol: The Trail of Dr. Chaos'' (Big Fish Games, Xbox 360, Tikgames/2007-2008), lead composer and sound designer * '' Mahjong Tales: Ancient Wisdom'' (Big Fish Games, Tikgames/2007), lead composer and sound designer * ''Flowershop: Big City Break'' (Big Fish Games, Tikgames/2006), lead composer and sound designer * ''Wobbly Bobbly'' (Tikgames/2006), lead composer

Notes

References

External links

Official blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shigihara, Laura American people of Japanese descent American singer-songwriters American people of French descent Living people Video game composers Year of birth missing (living people) American expatriates in Japan 21st-century American pianists 21st-century American women pianists Women video game developers