“A brilliant pianist” (The Times of London), Martin Leung—widely known as Video Game Pianist—has spent more than two decades inspiring audiences worldwide. He is one of the first pianists to gain worldwide recognition for performing video game music on the piano, both in concert venues and online videos. He also champions classical music through his performances and teaching.
Martin holds degrees in piano performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music (CIM) with academic honors, the Yale School of Music, and a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Southern California.
Highlights & Contributions
• In 2025, Martin performed Star Trek music live in the presence of legendary actor George Takei, a career milestone that highlighted his ability to bridge popular culture and fine art.
• His iconic Super Mario Medley video (2004, pre-YouTube) is referenced in The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023) in a piano duet scene between Bowser and Kamek, and spotlighted in YouTube’s documentary Celebrating the Mario Community + 100 BILLION Views (2023). The video was also featured on Japan’s TBS program Kamiwaza (2023).
• Martin was Artist-in-Residence at the University of Michigan’s School of Music, Theatre & Dance (2019), and in 2024, presented the webinar Video Game Music Motivates Students for the Music Teachers’ Association of California.
• His classical piano performance can be heard in Guillermo del Toro’s Oscar-winning film Nightmare Alley (2021).
History of Video Game Pianist
Video Game Pianist’s musical journey began in 2004, when a video of Martin—then known as The Blindfolded Pianist—playing the Super Mario theme blindfolded and other Super Mario pieces premiered on eBaum’s World and gprime.net during the early Web 1.0 era. At the time, performing video game music on the piano was highly unusual and unorthodox, which made the performance stand out and quickly go viral.
Within a year of the video’s release, Martin was invited to perform at PAX 2005 at the Meydenbauer Center, where he famously gave 21 encores, the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema as part of the Celebrity Guests Signature Series, and the BradyGames booth at E3. He continued performing at high-profile events in 2006, including PAX, E3, the Game Audio Network Guild Awards at GDC, “Walk of Game” at the Sony Metreon in San Francisco, the iam8bit party at Gallery 1988, Harucon II, and The Union Club of Cleveland. That same year, MTV’s The G-Hole featured his work, and the Cleveland Plain Dealer ran a front-page Arts section article titled “Pianist Makes a Name as Video Game Virtuoso.”
In 2007, Martin performed at the 4players.de booth at the Games Convention in Germany, as well as at the Solon Center for the Arts and Case Western Reserve University, further establishing his pioneering presence as the Video Game Pianist.
Concerts & Collaborations
Martin has performed in 17 countries and 5 continents, with appearances at prestigious venues such as Carnegie Hall, the Hollywood Bowl, the Kennedy Center, Leipzig Gewandhaus, and Royal Festival Hall (London). He has been a featured soloist with orchestras including the Pittsburgh Symphony, Leipzig Academic Orchestra, the symphonies of Regina, Saskatoon, and Sudbury, the USC Thornton Symphony, and the CIM Orchestra.
He is a frequent performer at major game and entertainment events including E3, PAX, GDC, RazerCon, Brasil Games Show, German Games Convention, X-TEAM, Comic Conventions in Tampa Bay, Indianapolis, and San Francisco, GamesBeat Summit, BlizzCon, and Video Games Live, co-created by Tommy Tallarico and Jack Wall. In 2011, he gave the world premiere of Poem of the Adventurer, a composition by Michael Glenn Williams that combines Chopin’s “Heroic” Polonaise and The Legend of Zelda Theme. The piece was dedicated to Martin and was featured in International Piano magazine. Martin has also performed Super Mario music in the presence of Nintendo legends Koji Kondo and Shigeru Miyamoto and Castlevania music in the presence of Castlevania composer Kinuyo Yamashita.
Recognition
Martin is a three-time top winner at the Los Angeles International Liszt Competition and winner of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Bronislaw Kaper Awards (First Prize, 2004).
Video Game Pianist’s performances have been reviewed and/or mentioned in the New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Nintendo Power, Wired Magazine, and NPR, among others. He’s featured in books such as Soundtrack Nation: Interviews with Today’s Top Professionals in Film, Videogame, and Television Scoring by Tom Hoover, among others.
Martin is internationally recognized for his authenticity, technical mastery, and ability to connect with audiences across generations.
Beyond the Concert Stage
In addition to performing, Martin has taught piano for over a decade and is currently a music professor at Mt. San Antonio College. Many of his students have gone on to attend prestigious music programs. One notable former student, Kodi Lee, went on to win Season 14 of America’s Got Talent. Martin has also served as a judge for local piano competitions, inspiring the next generation of musicians.
In 2011, Daily Motion in Paris, France, organized an international online competition titled “Qui sera le futur Martin Leung?” (“Who will be the future Martin Leung?”). The winner—a talented violin and piano duo—was a testament to Martin’s global influence and impact on young artists.
Further demonstrating his musicianship, Martin scored in the 99th percentile on Harvard’s “The Music Lab” IQ Music Test (2020) and placed first in a worldwide ear training online competition organized by Theta Music in both 2013 and 2014.
Outside of music, Martin is an expert-rated chess player and a dedicated marathoner. He has completed eight marathons, including the 2023 Los Angeles Marathon, where he achieved a personal best time of 2:56 and placed 81st overall out of 16,940 participants.
