Symphonic Game Music Concert
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Symphonic Game Music Concerts were a series of annual European video game music concerts. They were held as the official opening ceremonies of the GC Games Convention, a trading fair for video games in Leipzig, Germany.[1]
The concert series was produced by Thomas Böcker, the orchestra was conducted by Andy Brick.[2] Introduced in 2003, five annual concerts were held at the Gewandhaus zu Leipzig.
Contents |
[edit] The concerts
[edit] First Symphonic Game Music Concert
Date: August 20, 2003
Orchestra: Czech National Symphony Orchestra
Guest artist: James Walker (actor, Royal Shakespeare Company)
This was the first orchestral video game music concert outside of Japan. It attracted a sold-out crowd of 2000 people.[1] Unlike subsequent concerts, the music of the first event was performed by the Czech National Symphony Orchestra.
Song listing:
| Source | Song title | |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | - | Official Opening Fanfare - Games Convention 2003 |
| 02 | Headhunter / Headhunter Redemption | Suite |
| 03 | Final Fantasy VII | Aerith's Theme |
| 04 | Outcast | Suite |
| 05 | Merregnon Soundtrack - Volume 2 | Suite |
| 06 | Shenmue | Main Theme |
| 07 | Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell | Main Theme |
| 08 | Quest for Glory V: Dragon Fire | Overture |
| 09 | Mafia: The City Of Lost Heaven | Main Theme |
| 10 | Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets | Suite |
| 11 | SpellForce | Introduction |
| 12 | Primal | Suite |
| 13 | The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker | The Great Sea |
| 14 | Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield | Suite |
| 15 | Apidya | Suite |
| 16 | Medal of Honor | Suite |
| 17 | Final Fantasy | Final Fantasy |
[edit] Second Symphonic Game Music Concert
Date: August 18, 2004
Orchestra: FILMharmonic Orchestra Prague
Guest artists: Seiji Honda (piano), Erika Jarkovská (soprano), Miloslav Pelikán (tenor) and Roman Vocel (baritone)
The second concert marked the switch to the FILMharmonic Orchestra Prague. It was sold out a month in advance.[1]
Song listing (game and music title):
| Source | Song title | |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | - | Official Opening Fanfare - Games Convention 2004 |
| 02 | Final Fantasy VII | Let The Battles Begin! |
| 03 | EverQuest II | Thundering Steppes |
| 04 | S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl | Medley |
| 05 | Starship Troopers | Medley |
| 06 | Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne | Main Theme |
| 07 | Super Mario Bros. | Medley |
| 08 | ActRaiser | Medley |
| 09 | Monkey Island | Medley |
| 10 | Hitman | Medley |
| 11 | Secret Weapons Over Normandy | Main Theme |
| 12 | Metal Gear Solid | Main Theme |
| 13 | Final Fantasy VI | Opera: Maria and Draco |
| 14 | Turrican | Medley |
[edit] Third Symphonic Game Music Concert
Date: August 17, 2005
Orchestra: FILMharmonic Orchestra Prague
Guest artists: Conny Kollet (singer), Rony Barrak (percussion) and -123min. (rock band)
Booking of tickets lasted only three days till the concert was sold out.[1]
Song listing (game and music title):
| Source | Song title | |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | - | Official Opening Fanfare - Games Convention 2005 |
| 02 | The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind | Suite |
| 03 | Brothers in Arms | Main Theme |
| 04 | Donkey Kong | Arcade Suite |
| 05 | Chrono Cross | Suite |
| 06 | Arcanum | Passage to Arcanum |
| 07 | World of WarCraft | Suite |
| 08 | International Karate | Symphonic Suite |
| 09 | Dragon Quest | Medley |
| 10 | Battlefield 2 | Suite |
| 11 | SpellForce 2 | Shadowsong |
| 12 | Soulcalibur II | Path of Destiny |
| 13 | Chronicles of Riddick | Suite |
| 14 | The Lord of the Rings | The Valor of Men Thematic Suite |
| 15 | Silent Hill 2 | Theme of Laura |
| 16 | The Great Giana Sisters | Suite |
[edit] Fourth Symphonic Game Music Concert
Date: August 23, 2006
Orchestra: FILMharmonic Orchestra Prague and choir
Guest artists: Daniela Kosinova (piano, pipe organ) and Michiru Yamane (cembalo)
For the first time, the concert featured a live choir and the pipe organ of the Gewandhaus.
Song listing (game and music title):
| Source | Song title | |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | - | Official Opening Fanfare - Games Convention 2006 |
| 02 | Anno 1701 | Suite |
| 03 | Black | Main Theme (Reprise) |
| 04 | Sonic the Hedgehog | Suite |
| 05 | Dreamfall: The Longest Journey | Suite |
| 06 | Final Fantasy VI | Dancing Mad |
| 07 | Gothic 3 | Suite |
| 08 | The Revenge of Shinobi | Suite |
| 09 | The Legend of Zelda | The Legend of Zelda Theme |
| 10 | Castlevania: Symphony of the Night | Wood Carving Partita |
| 11 | Castlevania | Suite |
| 12 | Shadow of the Colossus | Epilogue - Those Who Remain |
| 13 | Turrican 3 | Suite |
| 14 | Final Fantasy VII | One-Winged Angel |
[edit] Fifth Symphonic Game Music Concert
Date: August 22, 2007
Orchestra: FILMharmonic Orchestra Prague and choir
Guest artists: Izumi Masuda (soprano), Conny Kollet (singer), Daniela Kosinova (organist), Josef Krusek (boy soprano), Marek Zvolanek (trumpeter), Jaromir Klepac (pianist), Takenobu Mitsuyoshi (pianist and singer), Michiru Yamane (organist) and Rony Barrak (percussionist)
The fifth concert featured two surprise performances by Takenobu Mitsuyoshi (track 10) and Michiru Yamane (track 20). Additionally, Rony Barrak performed an unannounced improvisational percussion solo before he accompanied the orchestra on the last track.
Song listing (game title):
[edit] Guests of honour
A lot of famous game music composers have attended the events and the autograph sessions afterwards.
| Year | Guests of honour |
|---|---|
| 2003 | Nobuo Uematsu, Richard Jacques, Andrew Barnabas, Paul Arnold, Christopher Lennertz, Fabian Del Priore, Allister Brimble, Olof Gustafsson, Markus Holler and Tilman Sillescu |
| 2004 | Nobuo Uematsu, Chris Hülsbeck, Yuzo Koshiro, Markus Holler, Fabian Del Priore, Allister Brimble, Richard Jacques and Akira Yamaoka |
| 2005 | Chris Hülsbeck, Rob Hubbard, Jason Hayes, Gustaf Grefberg, Tilman Sillescu, Stephen Harwood and Junichi Nakatsuru |
| 2006 | Nobuo Uematsu, Tilman Sillescu, Leon Willet, Michiru Yamane and Kai Rosenkranz |
| 2007 | Chris Hülsbeck, Yuzo Koshiro, Takenobu Mitsuyoshi, Michiru Yamane, Allister Brimble, Olof Gustafsson, Tilman Sillescu, Mark Griskey, Matthias Steinwachs, Henning Nugel and Emilio de Paz |
All concerts with the notable exception of the fifth one in 2007 included various speeches and presentations by German politicians and spokespersons of the industry, such as game designer Will Wright.[3]
[edit] After 2007
[edit] Cancellation of GC in Concert
A note at the official website of the Symphonic Game Music Concerts announced that no future Games Convention opening concerts will take place at the Gewandhaus.[4] Instead, the opening concert in 2008 will be replaced by a Video Games Live show in the Arena Leipzig.[5] Thomas Böcker said that the Leipziger Messe GmbH didn't inform him about these new plans in advance.[6]
Tommy Tallarico stated that he had a mail correspondence with Böcker about having both concerts at the beginning and the end of the Games Convention 2007, though both felt that it would have been too confusing for the attendants. [7]
[edit] Future concerts produced by Böcker
On December 4, 2007, Thomas Böcker announced that he is producing Symphonic Shades, a concert exclusively dedicated to the music of German game music composer Chris Hülsbeck.[8]. It will take place in Cologne on August 23, 2008 and will be performed by the WDR Radio Orchestra Cologne and the WDR Radio Choir Cologne, which already played one of the Symphonic Shades titles at the concert PROMS That's Sound, that's Rhythm. Tickets for the Hülsbeck concert were sold out after six days only. [9] On February 1, 2008, the producers announced a second concert taking place at the same day of the Symphonic Shades world premiere.[10] Tickets sold out on April 12, 2008.[11]
Additionally, Thomas Böcker mentioned in an interview that there are some considerations about reviving the traditional Symphonic Game Music Concerts due to the new Cologne trade fair GAMESCom which will take place from September 9 to 13, 2009, with the help of the WDR Radio Orchestra Cologne. Further announcements regarding this are to be made soon.[12]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d Symphonic Game Music Concerts, The Concerts
- ^ Symphonic Game Music Concerts, The Team
- ^ Leipziger Messe GmbH, GC opening concert completely sold out
- ^ Symphonic Game Music Concerts, The GC Opening Concert has passed
- ^ Video Games Live, Video Games Live Teams Up with Leipzig Games Convention!
- ^ Thomas Böcker: "However, that would require that the 'previous people' were informed about the new plans (a long time in advance)." December 12, 2007
- ^ Tommy Tallarico: "Quite frankly, there was even some talk this year at one point about having one show at the beginning/launch of Games Convention 2007 and the other one at the end. Thomas and I spoke about this over e-mail but I think we both felt that it may be a little too confusing to have two shows at the same exact convention... maybe in the future this would work when both shows are a little more established? That may be cool." December 31, 2007
- ^ Symphonic Game Music Concerts, Chris Huelsbeck in Concert
- ^ Symphonic Shades, Concert tickets sold out after six days
- ^ Symphonic Shades, Second Hülsbeck concert announced
- ^ Symphonic Shades, All tickets for Symphonic Shades sold out
- ^ Stereology, Interview with Thomas Böcker
[edit] External links
- Symphonic Game Music Concerts
- Personal website of Thomas Böcker
- Merregnon Studios
- Symphonic Shades
- Gewandhaus zu Leipzig
- GC Games Convention
|
|||||
