Origa

Origa
Origa in 2013
Background information
Also known as	ORIGA
Born	Olga Vital'evna Yakovleva (1970-10-12)October 12, 1970 Kochenyovo, Novosibirsk Oblast, Soviet Union
Origin	Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan
Died	January 17, 2015(2015-01-17) (aged 44) Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan
Genres	New-age, electronica, anime soundtrack
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, musician, composer
Instruments	Vocals, piano
Years active	1991–2015
Labels	ROAD & SKY Company TOSHIBA EMI Records GEMMATIKA Records

Olga Vitalevna Yakovleva (Russian: Ольга Витальевна Яковлева, October 12, 1970 – January 17, 2015), better known as Origa, was a Russian singer who rose to prominence for her musical collaborations in Japan, especially her work for Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex.

History

Origa was born in the small urban village of Kochenyovo, 50 kilometres (31 mi) west of Novosibirsk. After graduating from music school in 1990, she took an opportunity to visit Japan in 1991 and contracted with the ROAD&SKY Organization in 1993. She later participated in several projects with various artists in addition to the Radio Japan Series and being part of the chorus for the Kobe earthquake disaster charity single. She released eight solo albums, three mini-albums, two compilation albums and 3 singles. She gained popularity outside Japan with the release of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex and the subsequent original soundtracks, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex O.S.T. and Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex O.S.T. 2. ^{[citation needed]}

These were written by long-time friend and composer Yoko Kanno, and both the first season's theme song, Inner Universe (featuring boy soprano Ben Del Maestro) and the second season's theme song, Rise, used Origa's vocals. Origa first performed with Kanno for ∀ Gundam, singing "Moon" in concerts (on the CD "Moon" is performed by Kanno under the pseudonym of Gabriela Robin; Kanno did not perform this song live until a surprise performance in 2009). In 2005, Origa performed songs for the anime series Fantastic Children, most notably the ending theme "Mizu no Madoromi". ^{[citation needed]}

In 2006, Origa was involved in the lyrics and vocal performance for the opening song "Player" and the ending theme "date of rebirth" from the movie Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex – Solid State Society. In 2007, Origa performed with Yoko Kanno for the Ragnarok 2 Concert. There, she performed all three Ghost in the Shell opening themes; "Player" from Solid State Society, "Inner Universe" from the first season, and "Rise" from 2nd GIG, and substituted for Ilaria Graziano on "Yoru_Vo", Pierre Bensusan on "ELM", and Gabriela Robin on "Torukia". She also performed alongside fellow vocalists Maaya Sakamoto and Mai Yamane and joined in singing selected songs originally performed only by Maaya. ^{[citation needed]}

On December 19, 2008, she performed at Sugizo's "Rise to Cosmic Dance" concert held at Tokyo's Shibuya-AX hall. She later appeared on his 2011 single "The Edge".

She lent her voice to the soundtrack for the video game Final Fantasy XIII-2. The game was released in Japan on December 15, 2011. The soundtrack was composed by Masashi Hamauzu, Naoshi Mizuta and Mitsuto Suzuki.

Beginning in 2013, she worked alongside musician Seiya and the duo have performed together worldwide. In 2014, Origa attended Anirevo (Anime Revolution) where she performed in concert. She performed songs from the Ghost in the Shell series and a medley of many other theme songs, including the debut of what would later become her last song, "Bells". She also participated in a panel with Production I.G CEO Mitsuhisa Ishikawa.

Death

Origa died of heart failure on Saturday January 17, 2015, at 8:20 a.m. following eight days of hospitalization in the Kanagawa Prefecture.

Although the announcement on her official website says she died of heart failure, a tweet by anime voice actress Jenya says she died of lung cancer, while another source adds she had already been fighting with lung cancer for two years.

Discography

References

External links

• Origa Official English Site (cached version from January 3, 2018)
• Origa Official Site (in Japanese)
• Origa discography at MusicBrainz
• Internet Movie Database