Vancouver Symphony Tackles Video Game Music

In Sunday’s (6/8) CBC News (Canada), Akshay Kulkarni writes, “An upcoming Vancouver concert will feature a symphony orchestra performing music from some of the world’s most popular video games—and the conductor wants to make new fans of symphonic music in the process. Game On! will see the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra take on music from megahit games like The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim, Civilization, Assassin’s Creed and more at the Orpheum Theatre on June 11. Conductor Andy Brick says that back when he first started working with symphony orchestras to perform music from video games in 2003, the idea was a novelty…. Brick says he hopes his Vancouver show can serve as a bridge to the world of symphonic music, especially for younger people. The composer also hopes to convince regular symphony listeners of the value of video game music, which one academic says has deep emotional resonance for gamers…. Composer, percussionist and music educator Aidan Gold … says that a video game symphony performance has the opportunity to draw in new fans—both for video games and the orchestra world…. ‘They might have their eyes open to this whole new artistic medium.’ ”