Zelda symphony to unite fans through music
By Clara Sadler, September 13 2016 —
To the delight of Legend of Zelda fans across the city, Symphony of the Goddesses — an orchestral performance of music from the long-running video game series — will play in the Jack Singer Concert Hall on September 22.
The concert will feature music from some of the most popular games in the franchise, including Ocarina of Time, Wind Waker and Twilight Princess.
The Symphony of the Goddesses conductor Kevin Zakresky says the production has something for both regular symphony goers who may not be familiar with the Zelda series and hardcore Legend of Zelda fans who may have never been to a symphony before.
“It is an unreal experience,” Zakresky says. “For symphony goers, they will identify with a full symphony orchestra and with the tremendous sound of the instruments on stage.”
For Zelda fans, Zakresky thinks that hearing music performed from their favourite game is enough to get fans involved in the symphony.
“Zelda fans are absolutely nuts for this production — they hoop and holler, they dress-up, they take part in the concert,” he says. “As a classical musician [it’s] rare for me to take part in an event where people are almost playing along with the orchestra. It’s a great energy.”
In addition to the orchestra, a projector screen showing footage from various Zelda games will add a multimedia aspects to the night. Zakresky thinks this will bring another dimension to the performance and might introduce the Zelda universe to those who may not have played the games.
While Symphony of the Goddesses contains music solely from Zelda video games, Zakresky says it translates well into a full symphony performance.
“The orchestration is updated of course because in that time there was only the possibility of a few sounds on an eight-bit video game,” Zakresky says. “I think anything that is as mystical and operatic as the Zelda universe works well with the symphony. The music of these video games is not to be underestimated, I didn’t quite know how extensive and amazing the score was until I conducted it for the first time.”
During intermissions, producers and composers of the show will talk about how Symphony of the Goddesses came into being and what it is like composing music for video games. Zakresky says this intentional interactivity is a highlight of the night.
“I think my favourite part is interacting with the fans. Both the fans of symphonic music and the fans of Zelda,” Zakresky says. “You can feel them behind you, being really involved in the concert. I’m not always used to that level of energy in the shows that I conduct so that’s really awesome for me.”
For more information, visit zelda-symphony.com