''Merregnon Studios'' is a company based in

Dresden, Germany Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth la ...

, founded by

Thomas Böcker Thomas Böcker (born October 8, 1977) is a German producer. He is the founder of ''Merregnon Studios'' and creative director of his orchestral music projects ''Merregnon'' and ''Game Concerts''. In 2003, he produced the first live orchestra perf ...

. It produces recordings and concerts worldwide, including the orchestral ''

Merregnon ''Merregnon'' is a series of works that blend orchestral music with fantasy fiction. Since its inception in 1999, the project has produced several albums and live concert performances. The third part is ''Merregnon: Land of Silence'', which premiere ...

'' and '' Game Concerts'' series.

History

''Merregnon Studios'' was founded in 1999 by Thomas Böcker. Having spent time in Japan and as a lifelong fan of

video game music Video game music (or VGM) is the soundtrack that accompanies video games. Early video game music was once limited to sounds of early sound chips, such as programmable sound generators (PSG) or FM synthesis chips. These limitations have led to ...

, Böcker sought to bring orchestral video game music concerts to Europe and produce storytelling arrangements and scores. The earliest example of his vision came with the first volume in the ''Merregnon'' CD series in 2000. His role as executive producer and project director provided him with contacts to conductors, orchestras and composers from around the world, and he began to develop the concept of a series of video game music orchestra concerts. Inspired by game concerts from Japan, the ''Orchestral Game Music Concerts'' from the 1990s in particular, he produced the first concert event of its kind outside Japan in 2003, the ''Symphonic Game Music Concert'' during the ''

Games Convention The Games Convention (GC), sometimes called the Leipzig Games Convention, was an annual video game event held in Leipzig, Germany, first held in 2002. Besides video games, the event also covers Infotainment, Hardware, and Edutainment. Its concep ...

'' in Leipzig, the first trade fair for video games in Europe. The success of the event led to his ongoing international series ''Game Concerts.'' Besides concert productions, ''Merregnon Studios'' has produced and directed numerous orchestral video game music recordings and albums including Masashi's Hamauzu's debut album ''Vielen Dank,'' ''

SEGA is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, r ...

'' 's ''

World Club Champion Football ' is a Japanese collectible card game and football/soccer sports arcade video game released by Sega. The game is officially abbreviated as WCCF. It is the first arcade game to combine trading cards with a video game, establishing a new genre of ...

'' and ''

Square Enix is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational holding company, production enterprise and entertainment conglomerate, best known for its ''Final Fantasy'', ''Dragon Quest'', ''Star Ocean'' and ''Kingdom Hearts'' role-playing video game ...

'''s '' drammatica -The Very Best of Yoko Shimomura.''

Game Concerts in Leipzig (2003 - 2007)

On August 20, 2003 Thomas Böcker produced his first ''Game Concert'' as a part of the official

opening ceremony An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly-constructed location or the start of an event.

of the Leipzig ''Games Convention'', performed by the

Czech National Symphony Orchestra The Czech National Symphony Orchestra (ČNSO or CNSO) ( cs, Český národní symfonický orchestr) is a Czech symphony orchestra based in Prague. The orchestra principally gives concerts at the Smetana Hall, Municipal House (''Smetanova síň ...

at the Gewandhaus Leipzig, promoted by the ''

Leipzig Trade Fair The Leipzig Trade Fair (german: Leipziger Messe) is a major trade fair, which traces its roots back for nearly a millennium. After the Second World War, Leipzig fell within the territory of East Germany, whereupon the Leipzig Trade Fair became o ...

''. Following the success of the event, further four annual concerts with various programmes took place under his direction until 2007, performed by the FILMharmonic Orchestra Prague.

Game Concerts in Cologne (2008 - 2012)

'' Symphonic Shades – Hülsbeck'' ''in Concert'' (2008) in honour of German composer

Chris Hülsbeck Christopher Hülsbeck (born 2 March 1968), known internationally as Chris Huelsbeck, is a German video game music composer. He gained popularity for his work on game soundtracks for '' The Great Giana Sisters'' and the '' Turrican'' series. Care ...

was the first of five annual concerts by the WDR Funkhausorchester featuring music from video games, followed by ''Symphonic Fantasies – Music from Square Enix'' (2009 and 2012), dedicated to music by the Japanese game developer ''

''. '' Symphonic Legends – Music from Nintendo'' (2010) focused on video game music by the Japanese game developer ''

Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It develops video games and video game consoles. Nintendo was founded in 1889 as by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produce ...

'', while '' Symphonic Odysseys — Tribute to Nobuo Uematsu'' (2011) was a tribute to the Japanese composer

Nobuo Uematsu is a Japanese composer and keyboardist best known for his contributions to the ''Final Fantasy'' video game series by Square Enix. A self-taught musician, he began playing the piano at the age of twelve, with English singer-songwriter Elton Jo ...

Game Concerts worldwide (from 2013)

Final Symphony ''Final Symphony'' is a symphonic concert tour first held at the Historische Stadthalle Wuppertal in Wuppertal (Germany) on May 11, 2013. Between then and 2018 it included 22 performances worldwide. The concert tour features arrangements of video ...

'' (2013) is a concert production featuring music from ''

Final Fantasy VI also known as ''Final Fantasy III'' from its initial North American release, is a 1994 role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It is the sixth main entry in the ''Final Fantasy'' s ...

VII VII or vii may refer to: the Roman numeral 7 Art and entertainment * The Vii, a video game console * vii, leading-tone triad, see diminished triad * ''VII'' (Blitzen Trapper album) * ''VII'' (Just-Ice album) * ''VII'' (Teyana Taylor album) * ...

'' and ''X''. The world premiere was performed by the Sinfonieorchester Wuppertal. Shortly after, the programme embarked on a world tour including the first performance of game music by the

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...

. The debut concert of ''

Final Symphony II ''Final Symphony II'' was a symphonic concert tour first held at the Beethovenhalle in Bonn, Germany on August 29, 2015, and continuing through 2019. The concert performances featured arrangements of video game music selected from the ''Final Fa ...

'' (2015) with music from ''

Final Fantasy V is a fantasy role-playing video game developed and published by Square in 1992. It is the fifth main installment of the ''Final Fantasy'' series. The game first appeared only in Japan on Nintendo's Super Famicom (known internationally as the Su ...

, VIII, IX and

XIII XIII may refer to: * 13 (number) or XIII in Roman numerals * 13th century in Roman numerals * XIII (comics), ''XIII'' (comics), a Belgian comic book series by Jean Van Hamme and William Vance ** XIII (2003 video game), ''XIII'' (2003 video game), a ...

'' was presented by the

Beethoven Orchester Bonn The Beethoven Orchester Bonn is a German symphony orchestra based in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia. It dates back to 1907, when a professional orchestra was established. Named for Ludwig van Beethoven, who was born in Bonn, the orchestra's princ ...

. ''Symphonic Memories – Music from Square Enix'' (2018) including video game music by ''Square Enix'' was first presented by the

Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra The Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra ( sv, Kungliga Filharmonikerna or , literal translations, "Royal Philharmonic" or "Royal Philharmonic Orchestra") is a Swedish orchestra based in Stockholm. Its principal venue is the Konserthuset. Hi ...

. In 2021, for the tenth anniversary of ''

Bethesda Softworks Bethesda Softworks LLC is an American video game publisher based in Rockville, Maryland. The company was founded by Christopher Weaver in 1986 as a division of Media Technology Limited, and in 1999 became a subsidiary of ZeniMax Media. In its ...

action role-playing game ''Skyrim'', Böcker produced a concert film featuring the London Symphony Orchestra and

London Voices London Voices is a London-based choral ensemble founded by Terry Edwards (1939-2022) in 1973. In its early years, it also incorporated the London Opera Chorus and London Sinfonietta Voices and Chorus. In 2004, Ben Parry, became co-director of th ...

Merregnon: Land of Silence (from 2021)

''Merregnon: Land of Silence'' (2021) is a symphonic fairy tale with music composed by

Yoko Shimomura is a Japanese composer and pianist primarily known for her work in video games. She graduated from the Osaka College of Music in 1988 and began working in the video game industry by joining Capcom the same year. She wrote music for several game ...

. It was produced by Thomas Böcker to introduce young people and families to orchestral music in the tradition of

Sergei Prokofiev Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''., group=n (27 April .S. 15 April1891 – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, p ...

's ''

Peter and the Wolf ''Peter and the Wolf'' ( rus, Петя и Bолк, r="Pétya i volk", p=ˈpʲetʲə i volk, links=no) Op. 67, a "symphonic fairy tale for children", is a musical composition written by Sergei Prokofiev in 1936. The narrator tells a children's s ...

'', with modern means adopting a game and anime aesthetic. The work was premiered and filmed by the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra.

Discography

Awards

* 2010 Best Concert: ''Symphonic Legends - music from Nintendo'', Swedish LEVEL magazine * 2010 Best Arranged Album - Solo / Ensemble: ''Symphonic Fantasies - music from Square Enix'', Annual Game Music Awards 2010 * 2011 Best Live Concert: ''Symphonic Legends – music from Nintendo'', Annual Original Sound Version Awards 2010 * 2011 Best Live Concert: ''Symphonic Odysseys – Tribute to Nobuo Uematsu'', Annual Original Sound Version Awards 2011 * 2011 Outstanding Production – Concert: ''Symphonic Odysseys – Tribute to Nobuo Uematsu'', Annual Game Music Awards 2011 * 2012 Outstanding Production - Concert: ''Symphonic Fantasies Tokyo - music from Square Enix'', Annual Game Music Awards 2012 * 2013 Outstanding Production - Concert: ''Final Symphony London - music from Final Fantasy'', Annual Game Music Awards 2013 * 2015 First person to produce a video game concert outside Japan: ''Thomas Böcker'',

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

* 2015 Outstanding Entrepreneurship - ''Cultural and Creative Pilots Award: Thomas Böcker'', German Federal Government * 2015 Best Album - Arranged Album: ''Final Symphony - music from Final Fantasy'', Annual Game Music Awards 2015 * 2020 Best Album - Official Arranged Album: ''Symphonic Memories Concert – music from Square Enix'', Annual Game Music Awards 2020

References

External links

* {{Merregnon Studios Recording studios in Germany