Play! A video game symphony V (526586156)

PLAY! A Video Game Symphony was a concert series that featured music from video games performed by a live orchestra. The concerts from 2006 to 2010 were conducted by Arnie Roth. From 2010,

Andy Brick Andy Brick is an American composer, conductor and symphonist. A native of suburban Chicago, Brick studied composition under Leslie Bassett at the University of Michigan. He then completed graduate studies in composition at the Mannes School of Mu ...

took the position of principal conductor and music director. Play! was replaced by the Replay: Symphony of Heroes concert series.

History

In 2004,

Jason Michael Paul Jason Michael Paul is an American concert producer, promoter, and entrepreneur. His production company, "Jason Michael Paul Productions", produced “Dear Friends”, ''PLAY! A Video Game Symphony'', and Nintendo is a Japanese Multinationa ...

was approached by Square Enix to organize a concert for music from its '' Final Fantasy'' series. After the concert sold out in a few days, Paul decided to turn video game music concerts into a series. Arnie Roth, who had previously conducted the '' Dear Friends - Music from Final Fantasy'' and ''More Friends: Music from Final Fantasy'' concerts, was selected to conduct the concerts.

, who had previously conducted the Symphonic Game Music Concerts, was chosen as the associate conductor. The concerts are performed by local symphony players and choirs. Play! premiered on May 27, 2006 at the Rosemont Theater in

Rosemont Rosemont may refer to: * Rosemont (horse), an American Thoroughbred racehorse * ''Rosemont'', a 2015 film Places In Australia * Rosemont (Woollahra), located in the Sydney suburb of Woollahra and listed on the NSW State Heritage Register In Canada ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Roc ...

. The premiere show featured performances by Koji Kondo, Angela Aki, and Akira Yamaoka, and composers Nobuo Uematsu, Yasunori Mitsuda, Yuzo Koshiro and Jeremy Soule were in attendance.

Concerts

Each concert features segments of video game music performed by a live orchestra and choir, with video footage from the games shown on three screens. An opening fanfare, written by Nobuo Uematsu, is performed at each show. Music from all video game eras is performed at the shows. According to Paul, the show is a "straightforward music program," designed "to keep the arts alive in a way that is classy."

Performed music

Music from the following games has been performed at Play!: *'' ActRaiser'' *''

Apidya ''Apidya'' (titled in Japanese characters below the title) is a horizontally scrolling shoot 'em up video game developed by German studio Kaiko and released by Play Byte in 1992 for the Amiga. It was Kaiko's second game developed. Despite being ...

'' *'' Battlefield'' *''

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ha ...

'' *'' Blue Dragon'' *'' Castlevania'' *'' Chrono Cross'' *'' Chrono Trigger'' *'' Commodore 64-Medley'' *'' Commodore Amiga-Medley'' *'' Daytona USA'' *'' Dragon Age: Origins'' *'' Dreamfall'' *'' Final Fantasy'' *'' Guild Wars'' *''

Halo Halo, halos or haloes usually refer to: * Halo (optical phenomenon) * Halo (religious iconography), a ring of light around the image of a head HALO, halo, halos or haloes may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Video games * Halo (franchise), ...

'' *'' Kingdom Hearts'' *'' Lost Odyssey'' *'' Metal Gear Solid'' *''

Prey Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill the ...

'' *'' Shadow of the Colossus'' *'' Shenmue'' *'' Silent Hill'' *'' Sonic the Hedgehog'' *''

Stella Deus , released in the west as ''Stella Deus: The Gate of Eternity'', is a tactical role-playing game co-developed by Atlus and Pinegrow for the PlayStation 2. It was published in Japan and North America by Atlus, and in Europe by 505 Games. The gamepl ...

'' *'' Super Mario Bros.'' *''

Super Mario World ''Super Mario World,'' known in Japan as is a platform game, platform video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). It was released in Japan in 1990, North America in 1991 and Europe and A ...

'' *'' The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay'' *''

The Darkness Darkness is the absence of light. Darkness or The Darkness may also refer to: Film and television * ''Dark'' (TV series), a 2017 German-language TV series produced by Netflix * Darknss, a character from the film ''Legend'' (1985) * ''Darkne ...

'' *'' The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind'' *'' The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion'' *''

The Legend of Zelda ''The Legend of Zelda'' is an action-adventure game franchise created by the Japanese game designers Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka. It is primarily developed and published by Nintendo, although some portable installments and re-releas ...

'' *'' The Revenge of Shinobi'' *'' Ys'' *'' World of Warcraft''

Album

On January 9, 2009, a live album CD and DVD of the concert was released. It was recorded in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

and was performed by the Czech Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra.

Reception and legacy

The concerts have been well received. Audiences regularly give standing ovations after each song. Jeremy Soule, composer of the music for ''The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion'', said that he "consider 'Play' to be the ultimate video-game surround system." According to Paul, Play! helps to promote the work of composers, as well as "lend credibility to the genre of video-game music." Roth stated that the concerts help to also push the classical industry forward and to "draw new audiences." According to Soule, video game concerts can help to educate old generations "that game music isn't just a bunch of bleeps and bloops." One associate conductor stated that the performance crosses the generational gap, bringing together older and younger generations.

References

External links

*{{webarchive , url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130423194132/http://www.play-symphony.com/ , date=April 23, 2013 , title=Official website Video game concert tours 2006 in video gaming 2007 in video gaming 2010 in music 2010 in video gaming 2008 in video gaming 2009 in video gaming 2006 in music 2007 in music 2008 in music 2009 in music