Video Game Orchestra: Castlevania at the symphony
Orchestral group celebrates epic musical scores from some of the greatest Japanese video game franchises.
While most classical concert halls deliver the best of Mozart, Beethoven, or Bach, the Boston-based Video Game Orchestra plays tunes from the annals of beloved franchises such as Final Fantasy, Metal Gear Solid, Castlevania, and others.
The eclectic musical group -- which weaves a Mannheim Steamroller-esque synthesis of classical music and a rock -- played to a packed house yesterday at the Boston Symphony Hall and completed a major milestone on Kickstarter by generating $40,000 in donations to launch an album recorded from the performance.
VGO's album, due in April 2013, features more than 100 musicians playing anthems from the aforementioned franchises, plus Kingdom Hearts, Chrono Trigger, and Grandia (track list). Special guest composers who performed at the symphony show include Hitoshi Sakimoto (Final Fantasy XII), Yoko Shimomura (Kingdom Hearts), Noriyuki Iwadare (Grandia), and Kinuyo Yamashita (Castlevania).
Those interested in acquiring the live set can contribute $10 for the digital version, or $20 for a physical CD with a sprinkling of other various pledge levels. VGO notes that "pledges will be used for recording, licensing, mixing, mastering, and printing, in addition to anything associated with the distribution of the album. Anything above 30k will be spent on promotions and other future projects."
Check out this live performance of the Chrono Trigger theme shot at the VGO show in Boston yesterday by YouTubian AzyxA.