Laura Intravia, also known as Flute Link, is an American flutist, vocalist, arranger and composer. She became well-known as a result of a Youtube video of her performing a skit at the 2008 Otakon Masquerade, in which she cosplayed as Link from The Legend of Zelda

The Legend of Zelda

The Legend of Zelda, originally released as in Japan, is a video game developed and published by Nintendo, and designed by Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka. Set in the fantasy land of Hyrule, the plot centers on a boy named Link, the playable protagonist, who aims to collect the eight fragments...

 and performed a virtuosic Zelda medley on the flute

Flute

The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...

. She has been a featured soloist with Video Games Live since 2009.

Early life

Laura was born and raised on Long Island, New York. Her first instrument was piano

Piano

The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...

 when she was 7 years old, after which she began studying the flute at age 9. She took private flute lessons for about two years in high school. While she enjoyed singing ever since she was a child, she did not begin classical voice lessons until she was 17. As a child, Laura enjoyed video game music, but video game soundtracks were not yet popular or readily available; to be able to listen to the music without having to play the game, she began transcribing music in a simple notation program on her father's computer. By the time she began music theory classes several years later in high school, she found that she excelled at dictation and ear-training exercises.

Laura attended Ithaca College

Ithaca College

Ithaca College is a private college located on the South Hill of Ithaca, New York. The school was founded by William Egbert in 1892 as a conservatory of music. The college has a strong liberal arts core, but also offers several pre-professional programs and some graduate programs. The college is...

 and graduated in 2009 with two Bachelor of Music degrees in Music Composition and Voice Performance. While in school, she was the recipient of several awards for both performance and composition; she received the 2007 Jack Downey Vocal Composition Prize and placed second in the 2008 New York Treble Singers Women's Composition Competition. She placed third in the 2008 NATS Singing Competition. She studied composition with Dana Wilson and Sally Lamb, voice with Deborah Lifton and Linda Larson. She auditioned for graduate school and was accepted to New England Conservatory and Boston University

Boston University

Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...

 for Vocal Performance; however, she was unable to enroll due to the high tuition costs.

Video Games Live

During her week of graduation from Ithaca College, Laura received an email from Tommy Tallarico

Tommy Tallarico

Tommy Tallarico is an American video game music composer and musician. He is best known as the co-creator of the concert series Video Games Live...

, founder of Video Games Live

Video Games Live

Video Games Live is a concert series created and produced by industry veterans and video game composers Tommy Tallarico and Jack Wall. The concerts consist of segments of video game music performed by a live orchestra with video footage and synchronized lighting and effects, as well as several...

, inviting her to perform the “Flute Link” skit at the VGL 2009 San Diego show. The skit was well-received, and Tallarico invited her to perform on the 2009 VGL Brazil Tour. During that tour, Laura was given the chance to sing an operatic vocal solo for the God of War segment. Ever since, she has been a flute and vocal soloist for Video Games Live, performing on over 15 different segments including God of War, Portal, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater

is an award-winning stealth action video game directed by Hideo Kojima. Snake Eater was developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Japan and published by Konami for the PlayStation 2, and was released on November 17, 2004 in North America; December 16, 2004 in Japan; March 4, 2005 in Europe; and on...

, Chrono Trigger

Chrono Trigger

is a role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1995. Chrono Triggers development team included three designers that Square dubbed the "Dream Team": Hironobu Sakaguchi, the creator of Square's Final Fantasy series; Yuji Horii, a...

/Chrono Cross

Chrono Cross

is a role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the PlayStation video game console. It is the sequel to Chrono Trigger, which was released in 1995 for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System...

, World of Warcraft

World of Warcraft

World of Warcraft is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game by Blizzard Entertainment. It is the fourth released game set in the fantasy Warcraft universe, which was first introduced by Warcraft: Orcs & Humans in 1994...

, Super Mario Brothers, Tetris

Tetris

Tetris is a puzzle video game originally designed and programmed by Alexey Pajitnov in the Soviet Union. It was released on June 6, 1984, while he was working for the Dorodnicyn Computing Centre of the Academy of Science of the USSR in Moscow, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic...

 and many more. She has performed under the baton of many of the original composers of these games, including Russell Brower

Russell Brower

Russell Brower is an American music composer and three-time Emmy Award-winning sound designer who has created sounds for Animaniacs and Batman: The Animated Series and video game music for Joint Operations, World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King, World of...

, Gerard Marino

Gerard Marino

Gerard K. Marino is a film and video game score composer, most notably contributing heavily to the God of War series. He is featured prominently on the soundtracks for the original God of War and its sequel God of War II for which he was nominated for a BAFTA Award. He also worked on Activision...

, Emmanuel Fratianni, as well as performing alongside Akira Yamaoka

Akira Yamaoka

is a video game composer, sound designer, sound director, and video game producer who worked for Konami since 1993 until his resignation in 2009. He is best known for creating the music in the Silent Hill series; he also worked as a sound director and producer on the series as well as serving as a...

 and Norihiko Hibino

Norihiko Hibino

is a Japanese video game composer and saxophonist.-Biography:After graduating from Berklee College of Music, he moved to Kansas City to start a career as a solo jazz musician...

.

In 2011, Laura arranged, orchestrated and premiered a new Zelda 25th Anniversary segment with Video Games Live during the 2011 Brazil Tour. The arrangement featured flute solo with orchestra and was well-received.

Albums

In 2010, Laura performed on the Video Games Live PBS Special, performing on the Chrono Trigger/Chrono Cross Medley. The accompanying album Video Games Live: Level 2 features the performance as well.

In 2011, Laura appeared as a featured flutist on the soundtrack of Otomedius Excellent. Hired by lead composer Norihiko Hibino, Laura performed on a track composed by Michiru Yamane

Michiru Yamane

is a Japanese video game composer and musician. She is known primarily for her work on the Castlevania series and other Konami games, including Suikoden. Her debut composition was Twinbee...

.