By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — A collaboration between the Rockford Symphony Orchestra and Chicago-based Blueshift Big Band will give an elevated new sound to the classic video games you played growing up.
RSO at the Arcade is a one-night only event that celebrates the soundtracks of games like “Super Mario Bros.,” “Tetris,” “Halo,” “Angry Birds,” “Punch Out!” and “Uncharted” by bringing them into the Coronado Theatre. The concert is slated for 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Coronado, 314 N. Main St., and it’s fittingly preceded at 6 p.m. by a “Super Smash Bros.” tournament hosted by Rockford University’s esports team.
Then, the 18-piece Blueshift Big Band and about 55 musicians from Rockford Symphony Orchestra take the stage for a show featuring songs from signature games from a variety of consoles.
“If you haven’t heard this music in decades, or even a few years, you’ll immediately recognize it, but it’s kind of elevated to this orchestral level,” said Benjamin Firer, RSO’s assistant conductor and the conductor for this show.
Firer and drummer Joel Baer, the co-founder of the Blueshift Big Band, developed the program for the show drawing from games on Nintendo 64, Xbox, the original Nintendo system and others.
They said the sound worlds of the big jazz band and orchestra compliment each other to explore these epic video game scores.
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“It’s the ultimate experience symphonic wise. It’s a total dream,” Firer said. “You’re kind of like a kid in a candy store. You get all of the sounds, the whole spectrum, every type of sound quality.”
There are 18 total pieces in the program, including the Dire, Dire Docks theme from the first water level in “Mario 64,” which Baer called “one of the most iconic level musics of all time.”
There is also the newly commissioned opening theme for “Star Fox 64,” which was written by celebrated video game composer Koji Kondo.
“When you hear the music of Koji Kondo, and these melodies are so well-crafted and by necessity so succinct and very compact,” Baer said. “Jazz musicians in particular have been looking for new material to improvise on, new melodies that people recognize to use as the basis for arrangements. This music is so ripe for that.”
Blueshift commissioned Neil Carson to arrange big band versions of music by Kondo. RSO sought out Andrew Skeet for arrangements to its video game themes.
“There’s this fullness in his writing that makes it sound really fresh and exciting,” Firer said.
Firer said this concert breaks from typical orchestral norms, where it’s generally considered proper etiquette to hold applause until the end of a piece.
“We’re trying to break that down and say, no, if you’re excited, yell out, scream out,” he said.
He said the show is a great entry point for people who may not have experienced an orchestral performance before to hear music they recognize and discover new reasons to return to future concerts.
“These pieces are from classical trained composers are from classically trained composers who certainly knew their orchestration,” Firer said. “It’s a great way to say, hey if you like this, come check out a Tchaikovsky symphony, it’s actually from the same lineage of composers. That’s certainly a hope for us is to inspire people to come back and broaden their musical horizons.”
RSO at the Arcade | Event details
When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 5
Where: Coronado Theatre, 314 N. Main St., Rockford
Tickets/info: Go HERE
Super Smash Bros. Tournament: To compete in the “Super Smash Bros.” tournament hosted by Rockford University Regents Esports, register HERE. The tournament begins at 6 p.m. and has a $200 prize pool.
What’s being played
Here’s a look at the program for RSO at the Arcade:
- “Advent Rising Bounty” — Hunter theme
- “Kingdom Hearts” — main theme
- “Angry Birds” — main theme
- “Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune” — main theme
- “Tetris” — main theme
- “Grim Fandango” — main theme
- “Banjo-Kazooie” — Treasure Trove Cove
- “Super Mario 64” — Dire, Dire Docks
- “Super Mario Bros.”— castle theme
- “Halo” — Halo theme
- “Civilization IV” — Coronation
- “Civilization IV” — Baba Yetu
- “Medal of Honor” — main theme
- “World of Warcraft” — main theme
- “Final Fantasy IV” — Magitek Shuffle
- “Punch Out!” — fight theme
- “Star Fox 64” — main theme
- “Super Mario 64” — main theme
This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at [email protected] or follow him on X at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas and Threads @thekevinhaas
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