Programme (full programme to be confirmed)
Koji Kondo The Legend of Zelda
CHAINES Tribute to Pokémon, Ecco and Secret of Mana
Nobuo Uematsu Final Fantasy VIII: Liberi Fatali
Kow Otani Shadow of the Colossus – suite
Yoko Shimomura/Hikaru Utada Kingdom Hearts
Hildur Guðnadóttir/Sam Slater Battlefield 2042 (selections from)
Jessica Curry Dear Esther/So Let Us Melt – I Have Begun My Ascent; The Leaving
Artists: Robert Ames conductor and BBC Concert Orchestra
Digital epics, live in concert: Robert Ames and the BBC Concert Orchestra perform classic gaming scores, from Final Fantasy to Battlefield 2042.
Mighty giants tumble and fall, young warriors struggle for liberty and love, and a princess of Hyrule strives to bring harmony to the cosmos. With its fantastic worlds, epic adventures, complex characters and huge moral choices, video gaming has always gone hand-in-hand with orchestral music – with games like Kingdom Hearts, Shadow of the Colossus and Dear Esther inspiring some of the most vivid and inventive sounds of our time.
Now the music of gaming breaks out from its screens and speakers into full, living, symphonic sound – as conductor Robert Ames takes an electronically-expanded BBC Concert Orchestra on a quest through infinite universes. Tonight we voyage from classic titles like The Legend of Zelda and Super Mario Bros, through Jessica Curry’s haunted soundscapes to the new worlds of Hildur Gudnandottir’s critically acclaimed Battlefield 2042.
These beloved scores have never sounded more brilliant: and tonight, anyone can play.