About Aubrey Ashburn
Award-winning singer/songwriter Aubrey Ashburn is a classically trained vocalist who writes lyrics for and performs on a rich array of musical projects including studio albums, epic scores for fantasy soundtracks, and international live concerts.
Aubrey's creativity as a prolific vocalist and collaborative spirit has propelled her career from independent music artist to working in the multi-billion dollar interactive entertainment industry on blockbuster franchises such as ALICE IN WONDERLAND (Disney), THE LORD OF THE RINGS (EA), THE DRAGON AGE SERIES (BioWare EA), DEVIL MAY CRY (Capcom), RIFT: PLANES OF TELARA (Trion Worlds) and LOST PLANET (Capcom).
Receiving multiple accolades for her memorable vocal performances and songwriting contributions, Aubrey has established herself as a unique talent in this field while continuing to enjoy writing and recording solo albums.
From an early age Aubrey was immersed in music and the arts, engaging in choral singing and playing violin in youth orchestras. She received private classical voice training and was accepted to Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan, however her family's limited financial resources prevented her from attending so she went on to pursue her interest in other performance arts - acting, ballet, and modern dance. Though she was accepted at the Boston Conservatory for Musical Theatre she was most passionate about singing and decided to decline the offer. Instead she packed her bags to move from hometown Cleveland, Ohio to California.
A couple of years later she was working with music producer Jerry Merrill (Gladys Knight, Bonnie Raitt, Lisa Loeb). Jerry mentored Aubrey as well as produced and released her debut folk pop album "Sleeping Virtue" on his Gaston Music Group label. They both had a vision of making a sophisticated developmental record that would showcase both their talents. The album would become a calling card for her evolutionary journey into music-for-picture.
Constantly looking to expand her horizons and repertoire as both a vocal performer and versatile songwriter, Aubrey was introduced to the world of film, television and video games while working at Soundelux Design Music Group, a leading post-production company based in Hollywood representing composers and sound designers. She not only gained valuable insight into the industry from a business perspective but became increasingly involved in the creative process.
Her first major foray into cinematic scores was to perform the ethereal Elvin choir on EA's THE LORD OF THE RINGS: BATTLE FOR MIDDLE-EARTH II composed by Jamie Christopherson. Aubrey's performance on the track "Elvin Morning" was nominated for Best Original Vocal - Choral at the 2007 Game Audio Network Guild Awards. She also performed the ethnic battle cries on Capcom's LOST PLANET, composed by Jamie Christopherson and Deddy Tzur, which was nominated at the 2007 G.A.N.G. Awards for Best Cinematic Audio.
The standout emotional qualities of Aubrey's performances, her team approach and diverse portfolio were brought to the attention of Capcom's Sound Director and Composer Tetsuya Shibata who signed her for the latest installment of the popular DEVIL MAY CRY video game series. For DEVIL MAY CRY 4 she wrote the lyrics and performed the opening title music "Out of Darkness", the theme for the main female character Kyrie who is a singer/performer in the game. Fusing classical and pop music styles, the song received a 2009 G.A.N.G. nomination for "Best Original Vocal - Pop."
For her next opus Aubrey provided the evocative and ethereal vocals on Inon Zur's emotionally intense music score for DRAGON AGE: ORIGINS, BioWare EA's epic fantasy role playing video game. Collaborating with Zur, Aubrey performs vocals and co-wrote lyrics for the DRAGON AGE: ORIGINS Opening Theme recorded with the acclaimed Northwest Sinfonia Orchestra. She also co-wrote music, lyrics and performed vocals for the High Fantasy and Dark Fantasy versions of the Elvish ballad "I Am The One"playing as different end title tracks. As well, Aubrey performs on the in-game tracks "Leliana's Song" and "Love Song." DRAGON AGE: ORIGINS was honored with Best Original Song ("I Am The One") and nominated for Best Original Score at the 2009 Hollywood Music In Media Awards as well as Music of the Year, Best Original Vocal - Pop ("I Am The One"and "Leliana's Song") and Best Soundtrack Album at the 2010 G.A.N.G. Awards. The official soundtrack is available for digital download from online music stores including iTunes and reached #1 on the Amazon UK MP3 Soundtracks Chart in December 2009.
Aubrey performed the songs of DRAGON AGE: ORIGINS in concert with The Eminence Symphony Orchestra during "A Night in Fantasia" at the Sydney Entertainment Centre in Australia. Music from DRAGON AGE: ORIGINS is also featured at this year's "Joystick" and "Score" symphonic concert series in Sweden. Most recently Aubrey recorded the main theme for Disney's ALICE IN WONDERLAND video game adaptation of the new Tim Burton movie, composed by Richard Jacques. She also performs vocals on Inon Zur's music for the DRAGON AGE: ORIGINS downloadable content, RETURN TO OSTEGAR and the expansion pack, AWAKENING. She is currently writing her next solo album as well as contributing to several major soundtracks in production.