About

Biography

Jose Daniel Ruiz is a conductor, composer, arranger, and music director whose primary mission is to bring public awareness and appreciation to the ever growing repertoire of music written for video games. As a panelist, Jose has been invited to share his knowledge of video game music concerts and their educational impact for organizations including Penny Arcade Expo, Magfest, and the UCLA Music Library. Jose began his study of music with the violin and accordion in elementary school. He has studied conducting under UC Santa Barbara music director Maxim Kuzin, Santa Monica College Symphony director Dr. James Martin, and choral music as a former member of the UCLA Chorale and the selective UCLA Chamber Singers, under the direction of the legendary Don Neuen. He is also a former bass balalaika player with the Los Angeles Russian Strings Orchestra directed by Iryna Orlova. He also plays accordion with his polka band Die Sauerkrauts during the Oktoberfest season.

He is also the Tech Director at First Baptist Church of Glendale, producing and conducting regular productions that involve talent sourced from the entire Greater Los Angeles area and beyond.

In 2014, he founded the Game Music Ensemble at UCLA, serving as conductor, co-music director, music librarian, and arranger, leading to the group’s inaugural performance at UCLA’s historic Powell Library Rotunda, and more recently, has led the ensemble to grow to the largest performing arts organization on campus, a full 100+ piece orchestra by the end of its 2015-2016 season concert, to a 200+ piece orchestra and choir for its most recent concerts in Schoenberg Hall and the Ackerman Grand Ballroom. He continues to proudly serve as music director and conductor.

He has conducted for large scale events including musical acts for the Overwatch League, the Phi Mu Alpha music fraternity, and others.

At the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, he has served as an event coordinator and stage manager, often called to help produce the school’s large scale concerts at Royce Hall and other challenging venues due to his expertise in staging large orchestras with many moving parts, soloists, and guests. Notable concerts include the premier of a double conductor arrangement of Cornell West’s “The Four Questions” Concerto by Arturo O’Farrill at Royce Hall, and a production of Dave Brubeck’s “The Gates of Justice” at Holman United Methodist Church, performed by the Dave Brubeck Ensemble composed of the living sons of David Brubeck.

He also helped co-found the Virtual Video Game Orchestra, currently serving as Executive Director and Conductor, an online-only community ensemble created with the intention of preserving VGM centric performance during the COVID-19 pandemic.

He has worked with notable composers from studios such as Thatgamecompany, Sony, Bethesda, and Disney as orchestrator, music preparer, and/or recordist. He was a technical reviewer on orchestration for the recently released textbook The Game Audio Strategy Guide, published by Routledge.

His primary instrument is the accordion, and he plays with the professional polka band Die Sauerkrauts, performing during the Oktoberfest season and beyond at festivals throughout the country.

Current Appointments

Highlights from The Distant Past

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