http://www.squaresound.com/interviews/play.htmlAs the May 27, 2006 Chicago premiere of PLAY! A Video Game Symphony approaches, producers Jason Michael Paul and Thomas Boecker, and conductors Arnie Roth and Andy Brick took the time to engage in an interview with Chris of SquareSound about the world tour. Here we learn about the principle features of PLAY!, the contributions and appearances of a number of well-known musicians, and how this major symphonic project comes from the same producers and conductors involved in Dear Friends, More Friends, the European game music concert series, and the Merregnon trilogy. To learn more about those featured in this interview, please visit here on their official web site.
The premiere is set to feature appearances and music from Nobuo Uematsu, Yasunori Mitsuda, Koji Kondo, Jeremy Soule, Yuzo Koshiro, Martin O'Donnell, Akira Yamaoka, Jason Hayes, Takenobu Mitsuyoshi, Mike Salvatori, Rony Barrak, and many other eminent musicians. Featured will be music from the Final Fantasy, Chrono, Kingdom Hearts, Mario, Zelda, Sonic, HALO, and Metal Gear Solid series, together with music from The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, Nobuo Uematsu's new project Blue Dragon, Battlefield 1942, as well as Final Fantasy XII's vocal ballad "Kiss-Me Goodbye" by Angela Aki.
Chris: PLAY! A Video Game Symphony will celebrate game music in a series of symphonic concerts that will occur worldwide, intended to be the 'ultimate tour' for fans. What are the principle musical and visual attractions that most gamers should expect from the tour and how should it even appeal to fans who haven't listened to any game soundtracks outside the game?
Jason Michael Paul: The principle musical attractions are performances of the most recognizable video game music of all time performed globally by some of the finest orchestras and musicians led by Grammy award winning conductor Arnie Roth. You can expect to hear the opening fanfare composed by Nobuo Uematsu exclusively for PLAY! as well as Final Fantasy compositions, Akira Yamaoka's "Theme of Laura" from Silent Hill, percussionist Rony Barrak will perform at some of the shows, a special suite from Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2 arranged by Arnie Roth, World of Warcraft music, Morrowind, Battlefield 1942, Shenmue, Sonic the Hedgehog, never before heard arrangements from Legend of Zelda, Super Mario Bros., Metal Gear Solid, etc.
As far as visual attractions you can expect to see FMV's from the games themselves, special footage created exclusively for the show, as well as the orchestra will be featured throughout the concert to make the audience feel more connected with the musicians on stage.
We will have three 10.5 feet x 14 feet wide screens using state of the art DLP projection. The screens will be bigger at some shows but never smaller than what has been specified. The experience we are trying to create will appeal to everyone regardless of whether or not they have played the games or heard the soundtracks. All of the music that is a part of our program is widely recognizable either visually or musically. It is our goal to present the music and visuals in a way that will draw you into the experience and appreciate the beauty of both the visual and music.
Chris: To conclude, it seems very likely that PLAY! should be a major landmark in the history of game music and the source of great joy and satisfaction to many fans with such inspiring producers, composers, and conductors, as well as an excellent program. Should audiences in Australia, New Zealand, Latin America, and Western Europe stay positive about the possibility of PLAY! coming to them?
Jason Michael Paul: Of course! We will have many announcements in the upcoming months. It is our goal to take this show to every continent by the end of 2007. I can only encourage fans to be patient and understand that we are looking into every major city with a quality orchestra and venue to host PLAY!
Also see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_Game_Symphony
