Giana Sisters in concert

The title from German composer Chris Huelsbeck for this year's Symphonic Game Music Concert will be The Great Giana Sisters. The classic has been arranged by Final Fantasy-orchestrator Shiro Hamaguchi, exclusively for the concert on 17th August 2005.

In other news: Different from 2003 and 2004, there won't be any extra tickets available. This year's concert wrote history already: all tickets were sold-out in less than three days.

Third Symphonic Game Music Concert (2005)

Conductor: Maestro Andy Brick
Orchestra: FILMharmonic Orchestra Prague
Venue: Gewandhaus zu Leipzig
Date: 05 / 08 / 17

Song listing (game and song title):

1. Official Opening Fanfare - Games Convention 2005
2. The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind - Suite
3. Brothers in Arms - Main Theme
4. Donkey Kong - Arcade Suite
5. Chrono Cross - Suite
6. Arcanum - Passage to Arcanum
7. World of WarCraft - Suite
8. International Karate - Symphonic Suite
9. Dragon Quest - Medley
10. Battlefield 2 - Suite
11. SpellForce 2 - Shadowsong
12. Soulcalibur II - Path of Destiny
13. Chronicles of Riddick - Suite
14. The Lord of the Rings - The Valor of Men Thematic Suite
15. Silent Hill 2 - Theme of Laura
16. The Great Giana Sisters - Suite

The Symphonic Game Music Concert series in Leipzig, Germany is held as the official opening ceremonies of the GC Games Convention. Merregnon Studios was involved in the organisation of these concerts.

On August 20th, 2003 for the first time outside of Japan, music written for video games from all over the world was performed by a live orchestra in a Symphonic Game Music concert. This event, held as the official opening ceremony of Europe's biggest trading fair for video games, the GC Games Convention, attracted a sold-out crowd of 2,000 people and once again disproved the common misconception that game music consists only of "bleeps and bloops". Titles such as Final Fantasy, Medal of Honor, Shenmue and The Legend of Zelda were enjoyed by a varied audience, including people who may have had no interest in playing games, but wanted to listen to great compositions. Under the direction of Maestro Andy Brick, the concert at the famous venue Gewandhaus zu Leipzig received a great deal of praise and enthusiasm, including ten minutes of standing ovations. It was a success that continued on through the second Symphonic Game Music concert which was held on August, 18th 2004.

The Czech National Symphony Orchestra packed the Gewandhaus in 2003, and the FILMharmonic Orchestra Prague continued that tradition at the event in 2004 where they presented another highlight in game music history by performing titles such as Super Mario Brothers, Max Payne, Metal Gear Solid and Monkey Island. Fifteen minutes of standing ovations honored the work of the composers and musicians alike. There was no doubt that word had spread since the first concert because the second was sold out a month in advance! This event was capped off afterwards by the sale of game music CDs and a personal autograph session with the fabulous composers Nobuo Uematsu, Chris Huelsbeck, Yuzo Koshiro and Allister Brimble.

Press from all over the world attended the events. Radio and TV stations such as BBC, ARD, RTL and Ceský rozhlas along with magazines such as Famitsu, GameStar, LEVEL and IGN.com were all represented. And newspapers such as Die Zeit, New York Times, Libération and Leipziger Volkszeitung also covered the momentous concerts.

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