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Thomas Bergersen

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Thomas Bergersen · Thomas Jacob Bergersen was born in 1980 in Trondheim, Norway, and is a Norwegian composer, multi-instrumentalist and co-founder of the production company Two Steps From Hell. He is self-taught. He began playing piano at the age of six, and as a teenager was already writing symphonic music. He made his first music as a demoscener under the name Lioz, using tracker modules. In 2009 he moved to the United States. His work is best known from film trailers and is associated with films such as Avatar, Pirates of the Caribbean and Harry Potter.

Music and breakthrough

With Nick Phoenix he released the first public Two Steps From Hell album, Invincible, in 2010. Archangel and SkyWorld, among others, followed. As a solo artist he made Illusions in 2011 and Sun in 2014, and later American Dream in 2018, Seven in 2019 and Catch Me in 2020. In 2020 he began the Humanity series, a planned set of seven albums about every aspect of human emotion, the first chapter of which appeared on 1 July 2020. With singles such as Heart and The Hero in Your Heart he raised money for the victims of the Tōhoku earthquake and of Typhoon Haiyan.

Influence

Bergersen names Gustav Mahler as one of his most important influences, alongside a very wide range of musicians, and he does not care for musical genres. Many of his sounds are recorded himself, from orchestras and world instruments. He often thinks up melodies first at the grand piano. He belongs to the world of classical crossover, and Two Steps From Hell has toured with an orchestra and choir since 2022.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to a track from Sun or Illusions and notice how the orchestra and choir swell in waves. Can you hear how the music works almost like a film image, with a clear build towards a climax?

Discography

Studio albums

In School of Rock

The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.

Mentioned in other articles

See also

Categories: ArtistsTrailer music and epic music