The Tucson Symphony Orchestra will be gracing Tucson Music Hall on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon with “”Video Games Live.”” The show is a multimedia event featuring a strong lineup of orchestral video game scores including the themes from “”Halo,”” “”Super Mario Bros.”” and “”The Legend of Zelda.””
Tommy Tallarico, the director of the event and a video games composer for more than 20 years, thinks the show is accessible to nearly everyone.
“”The majority of our audiences are families and non-gamers,”” he said. “”The environment is festive and fun. It’s not just for the 16-to-35 crowd.””
“”Video Games Live”” will involve video screens, interactive segments with the audience and pyrotechnics. A pre-concert event will feature a “”Guitar Hero”” competition with a prize to meet some of the world’s top game composers and designers after the show.
“”In each city, we teach the music to every individual orchestra. We chose Tucson’s because we feel they’re one of the top orchestras in the country with one of the widest audience bases.”” Tallarico said. “”It’s rather amazing because these people read music like you and I read English.””
Since premiering at the Hollywood Bowl in 2005, “”Video Games Live”” has slowly become the largest video game concert in the world. With praise from MTV, the Washington Post and USA Today, “”Video Games Live”” has become one of the rare multi-media events that transcends its audience to critical acclaim.
Tickets are online at www.tucsonsymphony.org, the Tucson Symphony Box Office at 2175 N. Sixth Ave. or by phone at 882-8585. Box office hours are Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
