/ Cory Doctorow / 10:23 pm Sun Feb 21, 2010

U Wisconsin symphony concert based on fantasy novels, video games, manga, anime

On Feb 27, the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay Symphonic Band and Wind Symphony is giving a concert based on sf/f films, video-games, and books, which sounds awesome. And I'l honored that the prof who organized it, Kevin Collins, cited my last couple of novels as inspiration for the theme.
"I think that it's fair to say that this program was especially inspired by (Doctorow's) "Makers" and "Little Brother," Collins said. "I find myself fascinated by his descriptions of the contemporary popular sub-cultures, and the creative culture of modification and personalization that has developed around new technologies."

The concert will begin with the Symphonic Band performing excerpts from "Symphony No. 1, Lord of the Rings," by Johan Demeij. The work is based on the books of J.R.R. Tolkien, not the more recent Peter Jackson film trilogy. Those selections will be followed by "New Moon," Alexandre Desplat's score from the popular movie Twilight New Moon.

The combined Wind Symphony/Symphonic Band will turn next to a suite from the Batman film, The Dark Knight, by Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard.

Following an intermission will be "Howl's Moving Castle," a symphonic fantasy by Joe Hisaishi created for the popular children's anime classic.

The evening will close with "Video Games Live Suite," an arrangement by Ralph Ford of six musical selections from video games: "One Winged Angel" from Final Fantasy VII; "Myst III Main Theme" from Exile; "Bounty Hunter Theme" from Advent Rising; "Halo Theme" from Halo; "Coronation and Baba Yetu" from Civilization IV; and "Kingdom Hearts."

First Fantasy: Music from Video Games, Anime, Fantasy Films and Fiction (Thanks, Kevin!)
Previously:

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  2. The picture appears to be of a conventional orchestra, not a symphonic band. The latter lacks strings.

    “symphonic band”, “wind symphony”, “wind orchestra”,
    “concert band” are all names for the same sort of ensemble. It is composed of woodwinds (oboe, flute, clarinet, bassoon, saxophone), brass (trumpet, trombone, tuba, sometimes euphonium) and percussion. An orchestra will usually have no more than two or three of each of the winds (and usually omit saxophones altogether) which the sections in a concert band are much larger.

  3. Baba Yetu is a good selection, not overused in such concerts (unlike One Winged Angel which is so nineties). But will there be vocals?

    1. yes, there will be vocalists. we have members of our band singing as well as various chorus members. :)

  4. I hope someone records this. I can’t attend and would definitely throw them a few bob to hear it. Or CC-licensed, even?

  5. I certainly hope it ends up online and freely licensed. It really should be, given the audience that will be most attracted to it.

  6. You might want to adjust your headline: U Wisconsin implies the biggest school in the system: University of Wisconsin-Madison. The other schools in the system are usually referred to by UW followed by the letters of the city. (UW-GB is Green Bay, UW-O is Oshkosh, UW-SP is Stevens Point, etc.)

    I am really happy to see UW-GB doing this kind of creative music programming! When I was in the symphony, I always felt like the “movie music” concerts were not as technically or musically challenging as other classical pieces, but this looks like a fun and diverse mix.

    1. ^ this.

      I’m in Madison, and your headline was pure excitement for me… until I read the text. I was about to rush to the other room and inform everyone what our plans were that day. Now I ponder if I should drive 3 hours. Should I?

  10. I dropped a note that way asking if there are any plans to make the concert available for download in the future. I also suggested that a copy of a hypothetical recording of it should find its way to Cory. That may already have been planned, but I figured suggesting it couldn’t hurt.

  11. Our Local High school does this every year. They hold a themed performance on the football field with video screens that switch from live shot of all the musical groups in the school, and the movie/video game that the music is from. The Kids love it, and it always gets a couple thousand attendee’s!

  12. Fans of this type of performance should check out the University of Maryland’s Gamer Symphony Orchestra: http://umd.gamersymphony.org/. Founded in 2005, they are (I believe) the country’s first student-run ensemble exclusively devoted to performing orchestral arrangements of video game music.

    A similar ensemble started up in Boston in April 2008: http://www.vgo-online.org.

  13. My son plays tenor sax in the UW-GB Wind Symphony and we will be going to this concert. REally looking forward to it as in the past, these concerts have been pretty somber and sad. This sounds like a change of pace and should be interesting. I know they record for the band, but don’t think it’s ever available for download due to copyrights.
    And I agree…the title is misleading. Please change to UW-GB. AND that is not a picture of the UW-GB bands. I’ve never seen strings. :-)

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