Taking Video Game Music to a New Level

It’s a full house in Boston’s Symphony Hall. In a balcony seat sits a red mage from the Final Fantasy video game series, decked out with scarlet robes, a feathered hat, and long, flowing white hair. A husband and wife, wearing formal attire for their visit to this renowned concert hall, sit unperturbed in front of the mage. Much of the audience is casually dressed, but other costumed characters dot the concert hall, some receiving compliments on their elaborate garb.

At 8 p.m., the more than 100 musicians of the New England-based Video Game Orchestra walk onstage and are met with an eruption of applause. VGO has played music from classic games as well as more recent ones, and on March 10 the group performed the music of “Distant Worlds: Music From Final Fantasy,” a travelling multimedia production that features works of acclaimed Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu. In “Distant Worlds” shows, different orchestras and choirs play pieces from the Final Fantasy series as stills and video from the games are projected on huge screens in the venue.

Shota Nakama, the creator and director of VGO, and his ensemble have played in front of large crowds before. Since 2008, when the Berklee College of Music graduate founded VGO, he and his musicians have played at events such as Anime Boston and the PAX video gaming conventions. Video game music has evolved from eight-bit tunes to what Nakama considers works of serious musicianship, and he and VGO seek greater recognition for the video game music genre.

VGO distinguishes itself from many other orchestras not only with its focus on video game music, but also with its five-person rock band. VGO’s rock band, choir, and chamber orchestra create what Nakama calls a signature “rockestral” style.

At a rehearsal the evening before the Distant Worlds concert, Nakama recalls how he has loved symphonic rock ever since he was a child. As a teenager learning to play the guitar, he admired rock bands such as Deep Purple, Helloween, and Gamma Ray. He sees the rock infusions in VGO’s pieces as an unconventional twist on classical music. “It’s kind of in my blood at this point, and I always like to do something that people don’t do,” he says.

In their rehearsal space on Boylston Street, VGO runs through the concert’s program. The rehearsal’s tone is professional, but the atmosphere is casual. One violinist wears his Boston Red Sox hat for the duration of the entire rehearsal. During a break, musicians text on their phones or laugh with friends, some of whom have played together with VGO since 2008.

When Nakama is looking for new musicians to bring to VGO, musicianship and professionalism are among his top criteria, he says. Of course, he adds, a passion for video games is always a plus, and so his musicians tend to be younger. “They have a passion, and they’re musically amazing, too,” he says. “They understand what game music is about.” Nakama, who grew up playing video games, sees pieces written for games as accompaniments to the games’ action, but also as compelling compositions in their own right. “Video game music is as good as film scores or like any other classical symphonic pieces,” he says.

VGO’s experience in the last three-and-a-half years made it an ideal candidate orchestra to play the “Distant Worlds” show. Since 2007, “Distant Worlds” and its Grammy-winning conductor, Arnie Roth, have toured across four different continents and played with some of the world’s most celebrated orchestras, including the San Francisco Symphony, the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Sydney Symphony.

Recognizing that he has worked with some of the best orchestras in the world, Roth nevertheless notices that not all of these orchestras manage to adequately rehearse the “Distant Worlds” music prior to his arrival. When asked about VGO, however, Roth jumps at the opportunity to share his positive impressions of the group.

“I could tell by my first rehearsal [that] everyone here cares and took the time to rehearse the passage work,” Roth says. “I’ve had one rehearsal with them now, and I was very surprised and glad at the proficiency of the orchestra. They’re really quite good.”

Roth and VGO began the concert with Final Fantasy’s “Prelude” on harp and proceeded through a sampling of pieces from the game series. Just before the concert’s intermission, Roth took a moment to remind the audience that 2012 marks Final Fantasy’s 25th anniversary. As musicians play concert productions like “Distant Worlds” and “The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses,” which began its North American tour in January, VGO members believe the video game music genre could soon enjoy more popularity.

“It’s very possible that this could be something that gets bigger very quickly, especially because the market for video games is expanding so much,” Matthew Y. Ebisuzaki, a VGO trumpeter, says. “You could also think of this as like a new type of Pops concert.”

—Staff writer John P. Aloian can be reached at jaloian@college.harvard.edu.