Glenn Stafford

Glenn Stafford

Glenn Stafford was a Principal Composer for Blizzard Entertainment and the founder of the Blizzard Sound Department. He was Audio Director of Blizzard from 1993 to 2005. Derek Duke, Jason Hayes and him were the original music team for StarCraft. Glenn has touched every iteration of WarCraft since Warcraft: Orcs & Humans. His other game projects at Blizzard include The Lost Vikings franchise, Blackthorne, cinematic music of Diablo and Diablo II, Starcraft II, Diablo III, and Heroes of the Storm. After over 30 years of working at Blizzard Entertainment, Glenn left the company in July of 2024, though no announcement was made.

Biography

Growing up, Stafford studied classical music, from which he gets a lot of his inspiration. Stafford's background lies in contemporary and progressive rock. He was initially hired by Blizzard on a one-week trial basis. He spent that first week stationed in Mike Morhaime's office, porting music and sound effects for the PC version of The Lost Vikings. He later created the music for various games in the Warcraft franchise, including Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness and Warcraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal, Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne and World of Warcraft as well as several of its expansion packs.

Composed music

NB: The lists below include only some of the games scored by Stafford.

StarCraft

• StarCraft Main Title
• First Contact
• Terran
• Protoss
• Brood War: Aria
• Funeral for a Hero
• Dearest Helena (see also Jason Hayes)
• The Ascension (see also Jason Hayes)
• Char Falls Under Directorate Control (see also Jason Hayes)
• Fury of the Xel'Naga

Warcraft II

• Warcraft II OST

Warcraft III

• A Call to Arms (see also Jason Hayes)
• Blackrock & Roll
• Frostmourne
• Lordaeron Fall
• Last Days of the Alliance
• Dark Covenant

World of Warcraft

• Ironforge
• Thunder Bluff

Wrath of the Lich King

• Wrath of the Lich King Main Title - (see also Derek Duke, Jason Hayes and Russell Brower)
• Northrend Transport
• Storm Peaks
• Iron Dwarf
• Taunka
• Chamber of the Aspects
• Halls of Lightning
• Culling of Stratholme
• Patch 3.1 - (see also Derek Duke and Russell Brower)

Cataclysm

• The Shattering - (see also Derek Duke, David Arkenstone, Neal Acree, Jason Hayes and Russell Brower)
• Arathi Highlands
• Western Plaguelands
• Cataclysm 7-9 (plays in Hyjal and the Scarlet Palisade)
•  [30-35] Words and Music By...
• PvP 6 & 7
• Patch 4.2 - (see also Russell Brower)

Pandaria

• Pet Battles
• Patch 5.2 - (see also Jason Hayes and Russell Brower)
• Patch 5.3 - (see also Jason Hayes)
• Patch 5.4 - (see also Derek Duke, Edo Guidotti, Jason Hayes, Jeremy Soule, Neal Acree, Russell Brower and Sam Cardon)

Warlords of Draenor

• Wolf at the Gates (see also Jason Hayes)

Legion

• Kingdoms Will Burn - (see also Russell Brower, Sam Cardon, Neal Acree, Edo Guidotti, and Jason Hayes)
• Highmountain
• Patch 7.3 - (see also Clint Bajakian, Neal Acree, Russell Brower and Sam Cardon)
• Argus
• Seat of the Pantheon - (see also Adam Burgess)
• Patch 7.3.5 - (see also Clint Bajakian, Derek Duke, Leo Kaliski, Neal Acree and Russell Brower)

Battle for Azeroth

• Alliance Victory - (see also Jason Hayes and Leo Kaliski)
• Before the Storm - (see also Clint Bajakian, David Arkenstone, Jason Hayes, Leo Kaliski, Neal Acree and Sam Cardon)
• Classic Battle - (see also Jason Hayes and Leo Kaliski)
• Dark Iron dwarf
• Divebar - (see also Leo Kaliski and Sam Cardon)
• Drustvar
• Freehold
• Freehold Combat - (see also Kory McMaster)
• Glenbrook Woods
• Heart of Sethraliss - (see also Kory McMaster)
• Horde Victory - (see also Adam Burgess, Clint Bajakian and Leo Kaliski)
• Island expedition - (see also Leo Kaliski)
• Naga Incursion
• Outlaw Harbor
• RTC (Real Time Cutscenes) - (see also Adam Burgess, Clint Bajakian, David Arkenstone, Derek Duke, Jason Hayes, Leo Kaliski, Neal Acree, Russell Brower and Sam Cardon)
• Sethrak
• Siren's Song
• Waycrest Manor
• Waycrest Wedding - (see also Leo Kaliski)
• Windrunner - (see also Sam Cardon)
• Patch 8.1 - (see also Adam Burgess, Jason Hayes, Leo Kaliski and Sam Cardon)
• Patch 8.2 - (see also David Arkenstone, Peter McConnell, Leo Kaliski)
• Patch 8.3 - (see also Jake Lefkowitz, Jason Hayes, Neal Acree and Sam Cardon)

Shadowlands

• Through the Roof of the World - (see also Neal Acree, David Arkenstone, Jake Lefkowitz, Grant Kirkhope)
• New Player Experience Human/Orc - (see also Jake Lefkowitz)
• Choice Oblivion
• Choice Rebirth
• Aspirant's Journey
• Kyrian
• To Be Kyrian - (see also Jake Lefkowitz)
• Death is a Battlefield
• Necrolord - (see also Grant Kirkhope and Jake Lefkowitz)
• Sans Primus - (see also Grant Kirkhope)
• Patch 9.1 - (see also David Arkenstone, Neal Acree, Jake Lefkowitz and Derek Duke)
• Patch 9.2 - (see also Jake Lefkowitz, Neal Acree and David Arkenstone)

Dragonflight

• The Isles Awaken - (see also David Arkenstone, Jake Lefkowitz)
• Azure Span Ruins
• Azure Span Frost
• Azure Span Tundra (see also Catherine Nguyen)
• Forbidden Reach
• Gnoll
• Brackenhide Hollow
• Primalists (see also Catherine Nguyen)
• Titan (see also Catherine Nguyen)
• Uldaman Lost Dwarves
• Patch 10.1 - (see also Jake Lefkowitz, Neal Acree and David Arkenstone)
• Patch 10.1.5 - (see also Jake Lefkowitz)
• Patch 10.2 - (see also Jake Lefkowitz, Leo Kaliski and Russell Brower)

The War Within

• The War Within - (see also Leo Kaliski, Jake Lefkowitz, Adam Burgess, David Arkenstone, Neal Acree, and Jason Hayes)
• Hallowfall
• Priory
• Sacred Flame

Voice acting

• [Wandering Ancient]

Trivia

• Former Blizzard Composer/Audio Director Russell Brower said he would get "mad" during sessions with Glenn, because Glenn would come up with a piece of music he would have wished to have written.
• Glenn and Jason had to do a "rush job" on writing the iconic A Call to Arms track, and wrote it in just a couple short days, after which it was used in a trailer for Warcraft III.

External links

GlennLStafford on Twitter