Peter McConnell

McConnell was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He studied music as an undergraduate at Harvard University in the 1980s under Timothy Vincent Clarke, Curt Cacioppo and Ivan Tcherepnin. At Harvard, McConnell befriended the future LucasArts composer Michael Land, who composed many of the company's titles, and worked with him at the audio company Lexicon.

While beginning his career in the Sound Department at LucasArts, Land needed someone to compose and implement music into his second project, Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge, and McConnell stepped in.According to [http://imuse.mixnmojo.com/pm_interview.shtml interview with Peter McConnell in 22/11/2003] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110714102927/http://imuse.mixnmojo.com/pm_interview.shtml |date=July 14, 2011 }}: "Michael Land and I had been working on projects together since we were at Harvard in the 80's. He really started the Sound Department at LucasArts, and was looking for someone who could both compose and design code, and I guess he figured I would fit the job pretty well. He must have been right, since I ended up working there for nearly 10 years." McConnell and Land co-invented iMUSE, LucasArts' patented interactive music system.{{Cite web |date=2013-01-24 |title=iMUSE and the Secret of Organic Music from 1UP.com |url=http://www.1up.com/features/imuse-secret-organic-music |access-date=2024-09-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130124035050/http://www.1up.com/features/imuse-secret-organic-music |archive-date=January 24, 2013 }}

During his time at LucasArts, McConnell composed many soundtracks for games such as those in the Monkey Island, Indiana Jones, and Star Wars series. Notable titles from this time include Grim Fandango, scored with unique Mexican-influenced jazz, klezmer and traditional film score style, and Full Throttle, featuring a rock soundtrack, which McConnell scored with rock group The Gone Jackals. While composing music for these two games, McConnell worked closely with Tim Schafer, who later hired him to compose scores for Psychonauts, Brütal Legend, and Costume Quest for his company Double Fine Productions.

McConnell left LucasArts in 2000 but contributed to Escape from Monkey Island and the special edition of The Secret of Monkey Island. Since then, McConnell has composed scores for Psychonauts, Sly 2: Band of Thieves, Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves (about which McConnell says he was influenced by Henry Mancini's works),[http://www.lucasdelirium.it/petermcinterview.html Lucasdelirium.it gives an interview to Peter McConnell.]{{dead link|date=January 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} and Kinectimals.

McConnell is one of the founding members of G.A.N.G., the Game Audio Network Guild. He is also a known live-action music performer, playing the electric violin.{{Need citation|date=September 2024}}

In 2013, McConnell returned to the Sly Cooper franchise to score the fourth game, Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time, released in February of that year. The Nashville Music Scoring Orchestra performed the score. Also, for the first time ever, McConnell's entire score was released on iTunes to accompany the game's release.

McConnell worked on the Double Fine titles Broken Age and the remastered version of Grim Fandango, both of which include performances by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. He scored the 2021 Psychonauts 2, for which he was nominated for a BAFTA Games Award{{cite web |last=Diaz |first=Ana |date=June 13, 2021 |title=Psychonauts 2 finally gets a release date |url=https://www.polygon.com/e3/22532050/psychonauts-2-release-date-e3-2021-double-fine-xbox-microsoft |access-date=August 2, 2021 |work=Polygon}} and a D.I.C.E. Award.{{cite web |title=25th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards Finalists Revealed |url=https://www.interactive.org/awards/25th_annual_dice_awards_finalists_revealed.asp |website=Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences |access-date=9 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220115173500/https://www.interactive.org/awards/25th_annual_dice_awards_finalists_revealed.asp |archive-date=January 15, 2022 |url-status=live}} He also wrote music for the 2020 film Intersect.{{cite web |title=Intersect (2020) |url=https://www.filmaffinity.com/us/film673017.html |publisher=FilmAffinity |access-date=30 June 2022 |language=en |date=2020}}

He married Amy McConnell and they have two children, Eben and Alice.

;Video game soundtracks

;Film

;Acting

• {{cite journal |last1=McConnell |first1= Peter |date=September 1999 |title=Dance of the Dead: The Adventures of a Composer Creating the Game Music for Grim Fandango |url=https://www.emusician.com/how-to/dance-of-the-dead|journal=Electronic Musician |volume= 15|issue=9 |pages= 30–32, 35–36, 38–40, 42|publisher=NewBay Media, LLC |location=New York |issn = 0884-4720}}
• {{ cite patent |country=US |number=5315057|status=patent| title = Method and apparatus for dynamically composing music and sound effects using a computer entertainment system (iMUSE patent)| invent1 = LAND MICHAEL Z [US]; MCCONNELL PETER N [US] | assign1 = LUCASARTS ENTERTAINMENT CO [US] }}

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{{cite web |url=https://www.factmag.com/2015/06/21/grim-fandango-composer-peter-mcconnell-interview/ |title=When Mexican folk music danced with film noir: FACT meets Peter McConnell, the composer behind Grim Fandango |first=Miles |last=Bowe |date=June 21, 2015 |website=Fact |publisher=The Vinyl Factory |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190713051823/https://www.factmag.com/2015/06/21/grim-fandango-composer-peter-mcconnell-interview/ |archive-date=2019-07-13 |url-status=live}}

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• {{Official website|http://www.petermc.com}}

{{LucasArts adventure games}}

{{Double Fine}}

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Category:1960 births

Category:American male musicians

Category:Harvard University alumni

Category:Living people

Category:Lucasfilm people

Category:American video game composers

Category:Electric violinists

Category:Double Fine people