Alumnus Earns GRAMMY Nomination for Call of Duty: Vanguard
Published: January 23, 2023 | Author: Kenzie Lundberg | Read Time: 3 minutes
Southern Utah University alumnus and adjunct faculty member Ted Kocher recently earned a GRAMMY nomination for his work as the producer on the score for Call of Duty: Vanguard. This is the second GRAMMY nomination for Kocher.
“Helping students to strengthen their skills, and then apply those skills toward artistic and commercial success is a primary focus of our teaching,” said Dr. Steve Meredith, founding director of the Master of Music degree program in Music Technology. “Ted Kocher represents the very best of this teaching philosophy, and we are proud to have him as both an alumnus of the program, and as an adjunct instructor for our future students in the MMMT program.”
Kocher is a music and audio professional with high-level experience performing every discipline of audio. He currently works as a music supervisor for Sony Interactive Entertainment, which is home to the Playstation brand. This is Kocher’s 14th year working with Playstation and Sony. During that time he has helped to produce and edit music for Call of Duty: Vanguard, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Ghost of Tsushima, Journey, and Uncharted 4 among others. Kocher also composed music for the Playstation Originals logo, Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart, Marvel’s Spider-man: Miles Morales, and Uncharted 4.
Kocher has worked on four out of the last six Call of Duty games, usually the best-selling franchise of the year. He received a GRAMMY nomination in the “best score soundtrack for video games and other interactive media” category as part of the team that produced the score for Call of Duty: Vanguard.
“I was the music supervisor for Call of Duty: Vanguard,” said Kocher. “For me, the development cycle was about two years. The first year and a half was working with the composer and his team to develop the score and the sound. Which is about two and a half hours of music. Then our team came back in to edit the music and implement it to match the creative vision.”
This isn’t Kocher’s first nomination. In 2012, Kocher was part of the team that earned what is considered the video game world’s first GRAMMY nomination. The soundtrack to the videogame, Journey, received a nomination in the category of “best score soundtrack for visual media.”
“I am really proud of the Journey score,” said Kocher. “It was a great moment to be nominated that year after all that hard work. And beyond the GRAMMY nomination, the game was widely praised. It was an interesting game because there was no dialogue at all in the game, it was very music and sound forward. Our work was a huge part of the experience.”
The video game industry has been lobbying the Recording Academy for a video game-specific category, and until this year, there has not been a specific category for video game music. The new category recognizes the composer(s) of an original score created specifically for, or as a companion to, video games and other interactive media. The premier nomination list includes other well-known titles: Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: Dawn of Ragnarok, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, Old World, and Aliens: Fireteam Elite.
Kocher's recognitions also include several Motion Picture Sound Editors Golden Reel awards, BAFTA nominations, and multiple TEC and GANG awards. He holds a master’s degree in music technology from SUU and a bachelor’s degree in music performance from Duquesne University. For SUU students hoping to learn from Kocher, he is an adjunct faculty member in the music technology program.
The 65th GRAMMY Awards will air live on Sunday, February 5, 2023, from Los Angeles' Crypto.com Arena, and it will broadcast live on the CBS Television Network and stream live and on-demand on Paramount+.
Tags: Music Technology Alumni Music Graduate Programs College of Performing and Visual Arts