Symphonic Game Music Concerts

The participants of Symphonic Fantasies after the performance of the concert in 2009

The Symphonic Game Music Concerts (shortened to: Game Concerts) are a series of award-winning orchestral video game music concerts first performed in 2003 at the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, Germany, notable for being the longest running and the first of their kind outside Japan.[1][2][3] They are produced by Thomas Böcker[4] and performed by various orchestras conducted by Andy Brick (2003–2007),[5] Arnie Roth (2008, 2009 and 2011),[6] Niklas Willén (2010, 2012)[7] and Eckehard Stier (from 2012).[8]

In Leipzig, the Game Concerts series was held as GC in Concert from 2003 to 2007 as the official, annual opening ceremony of the GC – Games Convention.[9] From 2008 to 2012, a cooperation with the WDR and its in-house orchestra, the WDR Funkhausorchester Köln, was established, with concerts primarily held at the Kölner Philharmonie.[10] Since 2013, the events have been presented internationally, including performances with the London Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican Centre in London.[11]

  1. ^ "ZEIT ONLINE | Von der Konsole auf den Konzertflügel". www.zeit.de. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  2. ^ "First live videogame concert outside of Japan". Guinness World Records. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  3. ^ "Sound Byte: Symphonic Game Music Concerts". GameSpot. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  4. ^ Böcker, Thomas; Fritsch, Melanie; Summers, Tim (2021), Fritsch, Melanie; Summers, Tim (eds.), "Producing Game Music Concerts", The Cambridge Companion to Video Game Music, Cambridge Companions to Music, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 424–432, ISBN 978-1-108-47302-6, retrieved 6 June 2022
  5. ^ Dubin, Jayson (4 May 2012). "Film Composer/Symphonist Andy Brick Conducts First Video Game Symphony Concert". GameZone. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  6. ^ "Arnie Roth Interview: Conductor of Symphonic Shades (August 2008)". www.game-ost.com. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  7. ^ "Symphonic Legends Music from Nintendo". Nintendo of Europe GmbH (in German). Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  8. ^ Rundfunk, Bayerischer (1 February 2017). "Kleine Geschichte der Video Game Music: Von "Pong" bis "Final Symphony" | BR-Klassik". www.br-klassik.de (in German). Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  9. ^ "The story of video game music concerts – A European first". Classic FM. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  10. ^ Schmitz, Petra (2 February 2009). "Symphonic Fantasies – WDR-Rundfunkorchester mit neuem Spielemusik-Konzert". GameStar (in German). Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  11. ^ "London Symphony Orchestra – Final Symphony: available to download". lso.co.uk. Retrieved 6 June 2022.