When attending an orchestra and choir concert at Concordia, audiences can often expect to hear classical or sacred repertoire. However, the upcoming Video Games Concert on April 13 hopes to defy this expectation and present musical works with a choir and full orchestra celebrating popular games including “Final Fantasy,” “Halo,” “Starfield,” “Skyrim,” “World of Warcraft” and “Civilization.” 

Serving as one of the final concerts of the semester, the Video Games Concert will feature the Concordia Symphony and Wind Orchestra, Donne di Canto and Men’s Chorus under the shared conductorship of Dr. Elliott Bark, Dr. Clarissa Shan and Len Montgomery. 

Outside of the annual Concordia Christmas concert at the Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, the Video Games Concert is the most collaborative concert among all of the ensembles in the Music Department. “This concert is the closest thing to our Segerstrom concert that will happen. Anybody who liked the Concordia Christmas performances or wishes that they could have gone, should attend this concert,” said Victoria Hicks, sophomore and a member of both Donne di Canto and Concordia Wind Orchestra with clarinet.

For members of Donne di Canto and Men’s Chorus this concert provides a special opportunity to sing alongside an orchestra. “Each song requires teamwork to sound its best. As for the singers, it has been a thrilling experience because I have never sung with an orchestra before. The opportunity to try something new has been an enormous learning experience for me,” said Shane Perry. Perry is in his first year with the Men’s Chorus, under the direction of Shan.

As for the repertoire of the concert, music from video games is one of the most popular genres amongst students in the Music Department and is one that has gained a lot of appeal in recent years. “There is a misconception that video game music is not essential or just silly. But as this concert will show, video games now have an orchestral status and its music can be performed at the level of a movie score,” Perry explained, “This will also bring a different audience to the concert such as gamers or curious music listeners who never thought that video game music could reach a Grammy Award-winning status.”

One other unique aspect of the Video Games Concert is its pre-concert lecture given by Inon Zur, composer of “Fallout,” “Starfield” and the “Dragon Age” soundtracks and Jennifer Miller Hammel, a KUSC radio host and video game recording artist. The pre-concert lecture introduces gamers and non-gamers to the music being performed that evening and will share professional insights into the genre of music.

As a concert to attract both video game fans and non-gamers, the Music Department hopes to provide an experience that is enjoyable for all audience members, across various age groups. “Students and faculty should attend this concert because it features cross-generational games such as ‘Tetris,’ ‘Halo’ and ‘Final Fantasy.’ Even though some faculty may not know these games, perhaps their children do, allowing them to watch a production with game music that they know,” said Perry. 

Concordia’s Video Game Concert will take place on April 13 in the CU Center, with the pre-concert lecture beginning at 6:15 p.m., and the concert following at 7 p.m. Concordia students can enjoy a free ticket by using the code CUISTU at checkout. For more information, or to purchase tickets, visit simple.tix.com.

Tags: Alexander Carr

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