BIO

A multiple award-winning composer, Jason Hayes is well known for his long-standing relationship with Blizzard Entertainment, contributing music to their games set in the popular worlds of Warcraft, StarCraft, and Diablo. He was the lead composer of the original release of World of Warcraft, the most successful online game in the world. Jason's music has been performed by symphony orchestras all over the world in various concerts including the show "Video Games Live", which debuted at the Hollywood Bowl with the LA Philharmonic, and continues to tour internationally. He's also been a featured speaker for UCLA, USC, the Film Music Network, ASCAP, the Society of Composers and Lyricists, the Game Developers Conference, and the Pacific Northwest Film Scoring Program.

Jason was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. As a young adult he discovered his passion for music composition while studying piano with the renowned concert pianist, Dr. William Chapman-Nyaho. After spending a year traveling around the country as a touring musician, Jason studied music composition at the University of North Texas. Soon after, he moved to California and began his career as a staff composer at Sierra On-Line, which eventually led to him joining the development team at Blizzard Entertainment. He has also worked on the musical scores for Dota 2 and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive for Valve Corporation, and served as Music Director for Riot Games (League of Legends), where he managed a team of composers and outside music contractors.

He is the co-founder of Critical Hit, a symphonic rock band performing electrifying live concerts of music from the most celebrated video games of all time. The band features musicians who record for top-grossing video games, movies, and TV shows and perform live at The Emmys, Cirque Du Soleil, American Idol, symphony orchestras worldwide, and more.

Currently he lives in Orange County, CA and is working on various projects for the video game industry.