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Game Music

VGO Boston ~Live At Symphony Hall~ Exclusive Giveaway!!

September 24, 2012 | Patrick Gann | Comments Off on VGO Boston ~Live At Symphony Hall~ Exclusive Giveaway!! Share this

Alright people, we’ve been telling you every last detail we can squeeze out of VGO founder and concert organizer Shota Nakama at every turn of the way. We even have a special episode of Original SoundCast going up tomorrow with more details on the October 7 show, the guests, MAGFest 11 plans, and more.

But today, I have something EXTRA special. Two VIP tickets (great seats plus access to the meet-and-greet with Shimomura, Sakimoto, Iwadare and Yamashita), courtesy of OSV, to anyone who would be able to attend the show on Sunday, October 7 2012 in Boston.

To enter: email me ([email protected] with subject line “VGO Boston Tix!” telling me what, if you got the chance, you’d want to say in person to these four special guests and to the Video Game Orchestra and its founder Shota Nakama. The winner will, of course, get that chance. We’ll be giving both tickets to the winner, who is free to bring a friend or give the ticket to another VGM fan. Please, NO re-selling! These tickets combined are worth $200, making them the most valuable giveaway OSV has done to date.

Start sending those emails, and good luck! We’ll announce the winner on Friday, so the window of opportunity to win is tight!

Meanwhile, you’ll also want to check out the latest announcements at the VGO Kickstarter, which includes the setlist for the show and the expected tracklist for the CD.
Game Music

VGO Updates: Shimomura Special Guest!, Discount, KS Campaign Update

September 17, 2012 | Patrick Gann | 2 Comments Share this

We have a couple of very important bits of information regarding the upcoming VGO concert on Sunday, October 7 in Boston. You’ll notice, first of all, that we’ve added a banner for the concert in our site header that will stay in-place until the show has taken place. That’s because we are really excited about this show and want to see it succeed!

Second, and this is really exciting … a fourth guest has been confirmed. We already know that Hitoshi Sakimoto, Noriyuki Iwadare, and Kinuyo Yamashita will be at the show. Now, the above video from Shota Nakama confirms for us that Yoko Shimomura (Kingdom Hearts, Legend of Mana, Radiant Historia, Parasite Eve, Super Mario RPG, Xenoblade, and many many others) will be attending the show as well. This is very exciting news!! A reminder that anyone who purchases VIP tickets will be able to attend a special meet&greet after the show to talk with the composers and have items signed.

Speaking of purchasing tickets, there is a discount available that we’d like everyone to know about. If you enter “rockestralgamemusic” as a promotional code while doing online checkout for your tickets, you will receive a 10% discount*!

Finally, we’d like to note that the VGO Kickstarter campaign to have this show recorded and pressed as an official CD (and digital album) is currently at over $10,000, which puts it more than 1/3 of the way to its goal of $30,000 with 21 days left to go in the campaign. If you can’t make it to the Boston live show (or heck, even if you can), do yourself a favor and support this Kickstarter! $10 for the bare-bones digital album, $20 for the CD, and some very interesting rewards the higher your pledge goes! Please check it out! (I’m urging you for very selfish reasons: I want this CD!)

*note: this discount is only applicable for non-VIP tickets.
Game Music

New VGO Show In Boston, with Awesome Guests!

August 16, 2012 | Patrick Gann | 2 Comments Share this

We’ve had our lips sealed on this concert for well over a month, but now we’re finally excited to tell you about this one. Pay attention!!

The VGO (Video Game Orchestra) will be performing (full 70+ orchestra plus 5-person rock ensemble) a live show at the Boston Symphony Hall in Boston, MA on Sunday, October 7, 2012. It will be a night celebrating primarily Japanese game music, and to underscore that point, they have some fantastic guests lined up to say hello and perform live as well!

First, they have BASISCAPE leader/founder Hitoshi Sakimoto (too many games to list, but you know the notables: Final Fantasy Tactics, Valkyria Chronicles). Second, in what I think might be his first public appearance in America (commenters feel free to correct me!), they have Noriyuki Iwadare (Lunar, Grandia, Phoenix Wright). Third, a Japanese composer currently residing in New Jersey and one of my personal favorites in the realm of “sleeper composer making a comeback,” Ms. Kinuyo Yamashita (Castlevania, Megaman X3).

Violinist Aria Aizawa will also be performing, and she’s mighty fine at what she does. Of course, we’ll also have VGO leader Shota Nakama on guitar, and I’m personally psyched about that. Whether or not there will be any more guests announced before the show or surprise guests at the time of the show, I cannot say at this time, but I wouldn’t be surprised if that special guest list were to expand.

In case you missed it earlier, here’s the link to purchase tickets. We’ll be there, and we hope you’ll be there too.
Game Music

Quick Q&A With Masashi Hamauzu at Distant Worlds Boston

April 3, 2012 | Patrick Gann | 4 Comments Share this

We at OSV have done a formal interview with Masashi Hamauzu, composer for Final Fantasy XIII and many other wonderful games, in the past. This time, I (Patrick) had a few minutes to do a more informal chat with Hamauzu-san. This interview took place mere minutes before the start of the Distant Worlds / VGO show in Boston.

In my haste to speak with Hamauzu-san, I failed to nab a photo of him, or of us. Hence, all I have to show you is the front of my “Piano Pieces SF 2” with his signature on it. Sorry about that.

In the following interview, we speak at length about his new duo IMERUAT (Hamauzu + Mina), working as a freelance composer, relationship with Square Enix, music-writing preferences, and more. Check it out after the jump! (more…)
Game Music

Distant Worlds / VGO Concert Report: Angels In The Details

March 16, 2012 | Patrick Gann | 10 Comments Share this

[This photo and all proceeding photos taken during the dress rehearsal]

You know that old saying, “the devil is in the details?” I think the saying exists as a reminder for us to pay attention to detail. But for those people who are ever vigilant, who are willing to pay attention to detail, those of us who observe THEM will instead find angels in the details.

In this case, the angels are the performers in the Video Game Orchestra, as well as select soloists and Distant Worlds director / concert conductor, Arnie Roth. After the jump, my take on the March 10th Distant Worlds show at the Boston Symphony Orchestra. (more…)
Game Music

Don’t Miss: Distant Worlds f/ VGO: Boston, March 10th!

March 7, 2012 | Patrick Gann | 3 Comments Share this

The Distant Worlds US tour continues strong throughout March 2012. For two nights in March they’ll be performing in St. Louis, Missouri, followed by a March 31st show in Toronto. For details on those shows be sure to visit the Distant Worlds official site.

If you live in or near Boston, however, you’ll not want to miss this special treat. This Saturday (March 10th), the Distant Worlds tour will be collaborating with Boston’s own Video Game Orchestra, which is led by OSV contributor, J-to-E / E-to-J translator, and expert guitarist, Shota Nakama! Better yet, there will be a special guest in attendance for this show: Masashi Hamauzu. We don’t have confirmation on this, but it is likely that some kind of signing / meet&greet will occur after the concert.

Now, tickets are going fast for the Boston performance; as of right now, only “obstructed view” seats are available (i.e. — you won’t see much of the orchestra or the projected screen). But you may not even get that if you don’t act fast. We’re betting that the show will be sold out before Saturday, so there may be no “at-the-door” ticket purchases available. Get your tickets here, now.

We’ll be at the concert and will report back on it next week. Hope to see you there!
Film, Game Music

VGO Opens The Doors To The Boston Symhony Hall on April 1st.

March 3, 2011 | Audun Sorlie | 2 Comments Share this

Whenever something is announced for the 1st of April, you can mostly discard it as a bad joke and worthless information as juvenile minds tend to use this day to fake their untimely passing or announce Shenmue 3. The VGO however, always deliver the goods and on April 1st they will be hosting the very first video game related concert to take place in Boston’s Symphony Hall. This event will showcase and highlight the music that has paralleled the mainstream success of both video games and film. In addition to the orchestra, the concert will also feature a choir and a full assembled rock band. Nakama himself is very excited about the potential of the concert as he has been working hard on setting it together with both production responsibilities as well as handling most of the arrangements:

“This will be the first time that a concert held at the prestigious Symphony Hall will showcase video game music. It will also be the first time that industry leaders will be invited to a reception and a concert for the sole purpose of recognizing and enjoying the full artistry of video game music. -Shota Nakama”

In attendance will be Yasunori Mitsuda (Chrono Trigger), Alan Silvestri (Back To The Future) and Wataru Hokoyama (Resident Evil 5). Tickets are now available at The VGO’s website, so make sure you grab yourself a few tickets and take part in the historic event.