Shortly after E3 in May, fellow writer and orchestral guru Brandon Daiker attended the premiere performance of Play! A Videogame Symphony in Chicago. Shortly thereafter we were again invited to attend the Toronto performance in late September. At the time we were invited to attend, the Toronto performance was the last announced date of the Play! tour. This has all changed and the Toronto show is now the sixth stop on the world tour, making it Play!'s first tour date in Canada.
Set to take place at the Hummingbird Centre in the heart of Downtown Toronto, Play! will reach an audience of nearly 3000 during its evening in the Ontario capitol. The two-hour concert will be performed by members of the Toronto Orchestra and Chorus and conducted by Grammy Award-winning artist Arnie Roth. World-renowned percussionist Ron Barrak also will lend his musical talent to the evening.
Additionally, some of the biggest names in video game music are scheduled to make special guest appearances, including celebrity composer Nobuo Uematsu of FINAL FANTASY® fame—also the composer of the official opening fanfare for the "PLAY!" concert series, and Jeremy Soule, who recently won an MTV Video Music Award for his musical score for The Elder Scrolls IV®: Oblivionâ„¢, which is performed live only on the "PLAY!" world tour. Takenobu Mitsuyoshi, composer of the gaming sensation SHENMUEâ„¢, also will make an appearance and has a surprise in store for all fans attending the September 30 event.
The latest and perhaps most fan-gratifying additions to the Play! setlist will be the inclusion of music from Konami's Castlevania series, which is bound to make any vampire slayer shiver in his or her boots. N-Sider attempted to obtain a sample from one of the shows here for you to hear, but due to legal issues, none of the Mario or Zelda or any orchestrated piece could be put online for download... Except for the Play! official fanfare.
N-Sider was lucky enough to sit down and conduct an interview with Play! Producer Jason Michael Paul, and ask him all about plans for the future, DVDs, CDs and more:
Q: First and foremost, what spawned the creation of Play! ? With other orchestras such as Video Games Live! Doing largely the same thing, was there ever a worry that things would be too similar?
Jason: The creation of PLAY! is the result of the first Video Game Music concert series in the US that I created, Dear Friends- Music from FINAL FANTASY. I feel as if there is more potential with a show that performs music from a variety of blockbuster video games not just FINAL FANTASY. Seeing the success of Dear Friends is what spawned PLAY!.
PLAY! and the other show are completely different. For instance, in Chicago at our premiere PLAY! featured over 100 musicians on stage with a grammy award winning conductor Arnie Roth. When VGL was performed in Chicago at the same venue, after us they featured a total of 18 musicians on stage. [Ed. Note: VGL organizers dispute this claim.] This sounds more like a band rather than an orchestra. PLAY! is all about the music. It is not about anything else! We feature world class musicians and orchestras. A real symphony event not a chamber orchestra or a jam band playing to visuals from games. It is a completely live symphonic music with no playback from the games. 100% live music!
Q: Has Tommy Tallarico contacted you about the respective shows? Has there been any co-operation, or alternatively, competition between the shows and their successes?
Jason: I cannot answer this. I can only encourage the fans to come and see the shows for themselves and make the decision on their own. We are not trying to deceive anyone into thinking that our show is better. The point is to come and see for yourself the difference between the two and make your own decision.
Q: A few years ago around E3 time, there were supposed to be a few Videogame concerts in the Los Angeles area, were you ever involved in the planning of those? If so, what happened to stop them from occurring?
Jason: I do not know what you are referring to. A few years ago, I was working with Pavarotti and the Three Tenors as a production manager. At the same time I was also a consultant to Square Enix. The idea of Dear Friends was already in the works for quite some time. With the formation of Square and Enix that was just the excuse that we needed to make a huge splash at E3 hence the birth of Dear Friends- Music from FINAL FANTASY at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in 2004, making it the first ever video game music concert in the USA.
Q: When Play! Was first being developed, what was the most difficult aspect of organizing the show, outside of the obvious legalities with certainmusic?
Jason: Not very difficult. Many publishers were aware of the success and the team that I assembled for PLAY! And knew that the brand and the music would be represented in a professional and prestigious manner. The major obstacle that we have had to overcome and contend with is the two VGL tours that were cancelled. This cast a great deal of doubt on the video game music genre even despite the huge success of Dear Friends in the same year. It is hard not to be lumped with the failures of VGL. We are constantly dodging the VGL failures.
Q: Were there any arrangements that couldn't be put into the show because of legal issues? If so, could you name a few?
Jason: There were none. Every publisher that we asked for permission to perform the music from granted us permission.
Q: Over the course of the journey of Play! Who has been the most influential composer/ gaming industry figure you have met? And have they given you any long-lasting advice?
Jason: All of the composers have been influential as they all contribute to the success of PLAY!. We have great relationships with all of the composers who have blessed us with the musical compositions that make up the PLAY! program.
Q: How many composers have approached you over the course of Play!'s run wanting to be guests or have their works played by the symphony?
Jason: Typically, we have approached the composers ourselves. It is our responsibility to invite these composers. Many composers have made recommendations of what selections they would like performed such as Soule, Kondo, Uematsu, Mitsuyoshi, Sakimoto, Shimomura, etc. They all have input and this is the type of relationship that we have with these composers.
Q: In your experience, what City has been the most respectable to the symphony itself? In our report of the Chicago show, there were a lot of people yelling game titles and songs they've wanted to hear, do you think this lessens the 'seriousness' of the actual show itself?
Jason: Stockholm, Sweden. The fans there were just amazing! They were so attentive, responsive and grateful. No, I don't think yelling out selections that they want performed lessons the seriousness of the experience. We do not subscribe to this mentality where you have to feel that you can't make noise. After all we would not discourage fans from having an opinion as long as it is not a distraction that would hinder another spectator's enjoyment. I would only encourage the fans to check out our website and let us know which selections they would like performed. Fan feedback is greatly appreciated and can be sent from our website at www.play-symphony.com.
Q: Have there been any plans for a second tour, with all new materials?
Jason: Please know that PLAY!'s first run of dates were simply a promotional tour. We are currently working on details that will take us even further around the world. The tour will continue to evolve and the selections that will be performed will change from time to time so that we can continue to keep the show fresh and cutting edge.
Q: How successful has this tour been thus far?
Jason: It has been extremely successful! For instance, at our last show we had 6000 people paying to see the National Symphony Orchestra PLAY! at Wolf Trap. It was sold out completely! This is one of the most distinguished venues in the world. Main stream press, fans, publishers, presenters, and composers are all happy and that is the only concern of PLAY!. We are very grateful to the fans who have attended PLAY! thus far. We are continually striving to keep the fans wanting more from us at PLAY!.
Q: Are there any plans for a DVD or CD of the concert tour to be released? Be it online-only or in stores?
Jason: Yes. Please visit the PLAY! website. This information will be posted there shortly for release dates, etc.
Q: Have you heard much about Nintendo's new console, the Wii? There's a game in development called Wii Orchestra where you are the conductor of an orchestra, playing themes from games as well as traditional classical music. What is your opinion on a game such as this, and what impact do you think it would have on today's youth?
Jason: I actually was fortunate enough to be with Koji Kondo at E3 this year and demoed the game with him on the Wii orchestra. I know a lot about the Wii, and we are hoping that we can do a promotion with PLAY! to promote such a wonderful platform. Like Nintendo, PLAY! is all about finding ways to encourage the youth of today's society to get into gaming and of course orchestra music.
Q: What was your favourite gaming-related experience (throughout your entirelife), and did it have any effect on your desire to create Play! ?
Jason: My first experience was playing PONG at my uncle's house when I was like 8. I grew up in a generation that all we did was play video games whether it was the Commodore, Nintendo , or SEGA consoles. The inspiration for doing PLAY! came from a long line of projects ranging from launches of Playstation 2 to the launch of the Playstation store in SF, CA. to the trade show booths that I worked on in the late 90's dating back to the first E3.
I have been in the industry since 1997 when I was a student at SFSU in San Francisco and an intern with the Kenwood Group who handled the Playstation account putting together commercials, trade show booths, special events, sales meetings, etc. I continued to do this up until 2002. Then I started working for myself and continued working for Square, and Midway handling special events and other gaming related functions for them as a consultant. The desire for creating PLAY! came about when I was touring with Pavarotti and the Three Tenors. I knew that if I could create a show with video game music in a similar format it would be well received. I got my shot at E3 with the Dear Friends show and I do not intend to look back.
Q: Thank you for answering our questions, it's nice to finally see Videogame music, and their composers, finally getting the proper exposure they've deserved for years.
Jason: That is all PLAY! is about. Giving the composers a chance to shine and the opportunity to spread their music to the masses. My goal has always been to bring video game to the masses and have their music performed with some of the most distinguished orchestras in venues that are well regarded in order to give credibility to the music.
Tickets to the "PLAY!" concert in Toronto are selling quickly, but seats are still available for purchase at The Hummingbird Centre box office, at Ticketmaster locations, by credit card at (312) 559-1212 or on the Internet at http://www.ticketmaster.com/artist/1012066. In addition, VIP tickets are currently being sold, offering fans the opportunity to meet Nobuo Uematsu, Takenobu Mitsuyoshi, Jeremy Soule and Arnie Roth.
Keep an eye out at N-Sider after September 30th for a recap of the show, as well as interviews conducted at the event.