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What Conducting A Video Game Concert Sounds Like

Luis Hernandez
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WLRN

Ever wonder what Beethoven or Mozart might think if they were asked to assemble a score for the newest edition of a Playstation video game?

Scott Flaven, the visiting conductor at the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami, says video game music is rapidly becoming the forefront of music composing.

So students got together and decided to create an ensemble of music from their favorite video games. Some of the games that inspired them include Portal, Bioshock, Super Mario Bros. and Pong.

This weekend, Saturday April 11, the school is hosting its Frost Plays Video Game Music Concert. The concert will include an orchestra, a jazz ensemble and a rock band all on one stage.

"So much of video game music is informed by classical writing and classical playing, and this was a real opportunity to do something that was classically informed and engaging to a different kind of audience," says Julienne Gede, a masters student in music business and one of the driving forces behind the concert.

Credit Luis Hernandez / WLRN
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WLRN
Frost Symphony Orchestra rehearsing before the Frost Video Game Concert

  

Credit Luis Hernandez / WLRN
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WLRN
French horns rehearsing the Bioshock Suite from the video game.
Credit Luis Hernandez / WLRN
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WLRN
Video game soundtracks include: Zelda, Bioshock, Portal and, yes, Pong.
Credit Luis Hernandez / WLRN
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WLRN
William Longo assembles music called Stay Alive from the video game Portal.

    

Luis Hernandez is an award-winning journalist and host whose career spans three decades in cities across the U.S. He’s the host of WLRN’s newest daily talk show, Sundial (Mon-Thu), and the news anchor every afternoon during All Things Considered.
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