The Queensland Symphony Orchestra is working on a concert of an unusual kind - putting together a symphony based on the music of games.
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Not the Olympic Games, or board games, or Game of Thrones; rather, video games, unplugged, no less, on Saturday November 23.
There will be a massive screen behind the orchestra which shows edited and timed visual packages from the games.
And look out for a Grammy nominee cameo.
The show will be hosted by gaming funny men Kris Straub (from Chainsawsuit and Starslip) and Australian broadcaster, writer, blogger and comedian, and the host of Steam Punks Paul Verhoeven.
Straub has been an online cartoonist and writer for 12 years. He draws the gag-a-day Chainsawsuit and the cosmic horror adventure Broodhollow. His sci-fi epic Starslip was nominated for an Ignatz Award in 2012.
Video Games Unplugged will be conducted by Philip Chu.
Even better news is that we’ve got 15 double passes to giveaway to the big event.
- To enter the draw, simply answer the question: “What is the name of the conductor of Video Games Unplugged?” Please note, you must place your answer in the email subject line to be eligible for entry.
- Send your entry complete with your details (name, age, mailing address and contact numbers) to btcomps@brisbanetimes.com.au with your answer in the subject line.
The competition closes Tuesday November 19 at 5pm. Terms and conditions apply.
The concert will include music from The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Uncharted 2 & 3, God of War and Diablo III, Final Fantasy VII, Halo and all new arrangements from Journey, Heavy Rain, BioShock 2, Assassins Creed II, World of Warcraft, StarCraft II, Secret of Mana, Civilization IV and more.
While the QSO is front and centre, the Taikyo Drums will also play a starring role.
The composer of Journey Austin Wintory is attending the show and conducting his pieces.
He is the second person ever to receive a Grammy nomination for a video game soundtrack. The first was Christopher Tin with Civilization IV, which will also be featured in the concert.
The event includes the world premiere of Heavy Rain (Corbeil) the Australian premieres of both Nascence from Journey (Wintory) and I Was Born for This from Journey (Wintory).
Here are some highlights:
Heavy Rain: The composer Normand Corbeil was working on an arrangement of themes from this award winning game for the concert before his passing. Normand’s sons were keen to see his music performed (as it hadn’t been done live before) and so Andrew Pogson (MSO) worked with a local arranger to finish the small suite. This will be a World Premiere.
Journey: The music from Journey has won many awards and was the second soundtrack in gaming history to receive a Grammy nomination. As above, the composer Austin Wintory will be attending.
Civilization IV - Baba Yetu: Composed by Christopher Tin, this soundtrack was the first ever game to win a Grammy and thus holds a special place in video game music history as confirmation that music from games was gathering wide spread acceptance in the mainstream.
