Game of Thrones composer Ramin Djawadi feels “honored” to win his first Emmy

Game of Thrones composer Ramin Djawadi finally won an Emmy, this year, for his score on the season 7 finale, “The Dragon and the Wolf.” Djawadi found out he’d won right before hitting the stage in San Jose, California for the Game of Thrones Live Concert Experience. The composer later took to Twitter to express his gratitude and celebrate the win:

“It’s been a really fun thing to do,” Djawadi said of the Game of Thrones Live Concert Experience, when speaking to Entertainment Tonight. “I think it’s great to see that there is such a connection to film music and the way people react or connect to a character or scene. When we play the ‘Red Wedding’ or we play Arya’s theme, people just love it and cheer. It’s really exciting to see how they identify with the music and how they get emotionally carried away at these concerts. That was always the intention: to relive these scenes with the music in the foreground and enjoy yourself.”

Djawadi was in a unique position this year, as he was nominated twice in the same category. While Game of Thrones season 7 earned him the gold, he also had a strong chance with HBO’s other powerhouse, Westworld, where the composer was nominated for his work on episode 205, “Akane no Mai.”

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While working on two massive HBO productions may seem daunting to some, Djawadi says the work is “very rewarding because what a lot of people don’t know is how much hard work this actually is. I literally work every day and weekends,” he said. “It’s a lot of hard work and a lot of effort we put in. I didn’t expect anything at all, and then to get two nominations at the same time — it was pretty mind-blowing, I have to say. I feel very honored, and it’s just unbelievable.”

When it came to developing the music for Game of Thrones season 7, Djawadi knew he had a major hurdle to get over — Jon and Dany’s love theme.

"The Jon and Daenerys love theme is a good example, because we kind of worked backwards with that one. As their relationship developed through the season, we didn’t want to play that as a love theme from the beginning, because their relationship needed to grow. So, I worked backwards. I wrote the theme first to the big scene in the final episode and then broke it down in the early episodes."

As hard as this might be to believe, Djawadi has yet to begin work on composing the music for the eighth and final season of Game of Thrones, but when he gets the call from showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss, the composer says he’ll be ready.

“It’s sad and exciting for me at the same time,” he said. “I’m sad to see this end, but at the same time, I’m really excited to be able to write a conclusion to this amazing series. People think I’m finished, but the fact is, I haven’t even started. I’m very curious, just like everybody else, to see what’s going to happen and what journey it will take me on musically. I can’t wait to get going on it.”

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In the meantime, Djawadi leads the Game of Thrones Live Concert Experience through North America. Here are the remaining dates:

• September 12 — Phoenix, Gile River Arena
• September 14 — Denver, Pepsi Center
• September 16 — Dallas, American Airlines Center
• September 17 — Houston, Toyota Center
• September 18 — Austin, Frank Erwin Center
• September 21 — Tampa, Amalie Arena
• September 22 — Ft. Lauderdale, BB&T Center
• September 25 — Washington DC, Capital One Arena
• September 26 — Newark, Prudential Center
• September 28 — Uncasville, Mohegan Sun Arena
• September 28 — Boston, DCU Center
• September 30 — University Park, Bryce Jordan Center
• October 2 — Philadelphia, Wells Fargo Center
• October 3 — New York City, Madison Square Garden
• October 5 — St. Louis, Scottrade Center
• October 6 — Chicago, AllState Arena
• October 9 — Detroit, Little Caesars Arena
• October 10 — Columbus, Schottenstein Center
• October 12 — Montreal, Bell Centre
• October 14 — Toronto, Air Canada Centre

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