Classically trained violinist Owen Pallett, took up the violin at age 3 and had composed his first piece by age 13. Continuing his pursuit of the violin, the Toronto native studied his instrument of choice at university while scoring several operas and films. Becoming entangled in the Canadian indie music scene, Pallett next began writing the string orchestrations and providing the violin work for many notable bands on their albums, including Arcade Fire, Beirut, Arctic Monkeys and Fucked Up, all while developing his own solo indie rock career under the guise of Final Fantasy. Pallett received much acclaim for these collaborations and his solo work, winning the Polaris Prize in 2006--though he was uncomfortable winning an award sponsored by a cellular corporation and gave all the winnings to financially unstable bands he was a fan of. Since then, Pallett has dropped the Final Fantasy moniker, desiring to disassociate himself from the video game series he took the name from, now going by his given name. Pallett is best known for his live performances, which consist of him playing the violin and singing into a loop pedal, giving him the ability to layer string arrangements and vocals, as well as lending him the title of a live act not to be missed.
