Early life and career Born in
Fukuoka, Japan, Shiro Hamaguchi graduated with a music degree from
Tokyo University of the Arts, where he befriended fellow video game musician
Masashi Hamauzu. After graduation, he was hired as a department project manager at
Victor Entertainment from 1994 to 1996. In 1996, he joined the
anime and
video game music production company Imagine, where he worked alongside famed composers
Hayato Matsuo,
Kohei Tanaka, and
Kow Otani. His debut role was the anime series
Violinist of Hameln (1996), where he
arranged Tanaka's works. His music impressed
Final Fantasy composer
Nobuo Uematsu, who chose Hamaguchi as the arranger for the
Final Fantasy VII Reunion Tracks album. He provided orchestral renditions of "Aeris's Theme", "Main Theme of Final Fantasy VII", and "One-Winged Angel", which have become iconic through their use in various
Final Fantasy concerts. The following year, he arranged a selection of tracks from the game's soundtrack for the series' first Piano Collections album in five years. The success of "Eyes on Me" prompted
Kenji Ito to use Hamaguchi as the arranger for his theme song in
Chocobo Racing. and an arrangement of the theme song "
Melodies of Life"; he also created another Piano Collections album to the game. Hamaguchi collaborated with Uematsu to create music for the animated film
Ah! My Goddess: The Movie and the 2001 anime series
Final Fantasy: Unlimited, which also featured compositions by Tada. For
Final Fantasy X, he orchestrated the ending theme and the two versions of the theme song "
Suteki da ne". He also produced the arrangements for the 2002 concert
20020220 Music from Final Fantasy, the first
Final Fantasy concert since 1989. The concert and its
CD release set a precedent for many future concerts. He also orchestrated three themes for
Unlimited Saga on behalf of his university friend Hamauzu. At the end of 2003, Hamaguchi produced the
Piano Collections Final Fantasy VII. He also made new arrangements of "Opening ~ Bombing Mission", "To Zanarkand", "Ronfaure", "You're Not Alone", and "Opera 'Maria and Draco'" for the concert series
Tour de Japon: Music from Final Fantasy in 2004. The concert also featured his arrangement of "Cloud Smiles" from the 2005 film
Final Fantasy VII Advent Children; the remaining contributions to the film by Hamaguchi were old orchestral and piano arrangements. A handful of Hamaguchi's orchestral arrangements were added to Tour de Japon's American successor
Dear Friends - Music from Final Fantasy, which made its debut in May 2004 in Los Angeles. His arrangements have also been performed at the events
More Friends: Music from Final Fantasy,
Voices - Music from Final Fantasy, and
Play! A Video Game Symphony. The same year, Hamaguchi decided to enroll at the
Berklee College of Music in a one-year jazz composition course to further his opportunities as an anime composer. He has since scored
One Piece Movie: The Desert Princess and the Pirates: Adventures in Alabasta,
Big Windup!,
Ah! My Goddess: Fighting Wings, and
Rosario + Vampire. He orchestrated the late composer
Ingo Nugel and his brother Henning Nugel's arrangements from
The Settlers II (10th Anniversary) for performance at the fifth Symphonic Game Music Concert in August 2007. In September 2010, he arranged a symphonic suite containing the music from
Starwing and
Lylat Wars for the
Symphonic Legends concert in Cologne. Hamaguchi also composed the official music score for the
Sanrio anime
Jewelpet and its sequels,
Jewelpet Twinkle and
Jewelpet Sunshine. He later left the production staff in 2012 to focus on composing music for the film
One Piece Film: Z and the anime film
Hanasaku Iroha: The Movie – Home Sweet Home. ==Discography==