From Hong Kong to Hollywood: Composer Elliot Leung’s impact on video games and Chinese classics

When Leung was only five years old, his mother—a choir conductor and pianist—encouraged him to join two orchestras, where he played the cello. Despite a demanding schedule and the competitive nature of classical music, he remained undeterred. “When I was a kid, I was very good at doing what I was told and following instructions,” he says.

Music gradually became part of Leung’s identity. He was known among his peers as the boy who always carried a bulky instrument to school. He says he is particularly grateful to his cello teacher, who taught him how composers express their thoughts through their arrangements.

To him, decoding a piece of music is akin to playing the game Where’s Wally? “It’s like, ‘Oh, I found it!’ That’s the satisfaction you get when listening, playing or even writing music.”

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Leung had initial plans to become a conductor. But he decided on an alternate path after playing the first-person shooter video game Halo and listening to its symphonic soundtracks. “An alien video game is sci-fi, while a Gregorian chant is something you listen to in the pre-Renaissance period or in church,” he says, referring to the score in the video game. “When the two things came together, I realised that anything is possible; it’s just up to your imagination,” he says.

The game later became an even more significant part of Leung’s journey. He regards Martin O’Donnell, one of the masterminds behind its music and a renowned American composer, as his mentor. O’Donnell, who was his teacher at the Wheaton Conservatory of Music in Illinois, opened doors for him. Leung eventually became O’Donnell’s successor, composing the score for the video game Six Days in Fallujah, released in 2023.

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One of Leung’s latest works is Wuxia, a five-movement score celebrating the late martial arts novelist Louis Cha, also known by his pen name Jin Yong. The music draws inspiration from some of Cha’s most influential works such as The Deer and the Cauldron (1969) and The Smiling, Proud Wanderer (1967).

“Readers of the books will know what is happening in the piece. While listening, you will be able to picture the martial arts moves, such as ‘18 Subduing Dragon Palms’ and ‘Branch Beats the White Chimpanzee’,” he says, describing some of the most famous fighting skills in Cha’s novels.

Beyond scoring for video games and bringing classic Chinese novels to life, Leung is also the world’s first composer to premiere a symphony in the metaverse. He debuted Symphony No 1, The Metaverse in 2023 on Web3 platform Sandbox. His goal is to build a world with music. “Think The Lords of the Rings or Dune, where there is a whole world you can build upon, but not a film, just in music,” he says. “It requires a lot of resources and faith from the listeners for something like that to be accepted.”

Despite the many projects he wants to pursue, his ultimate ambition is simple: “I want to write good music. I feel the strongest emotions when the music reinforces my feelings. It doesn’t dictate how I feel; I take ownership of my feelings. When a piece of music can do that, it’s a good piece.”

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