Video Game Music Comes To BBC Proms

The Proms, one of the world’s longest-running series of classical music concerts, will hold a dedicated gaming music night on August 1.

The event is part of the annual summer series organised and broadcast by the BBC from the Royal Albert Hall in London. Prom number 21 this year is titled “Gaming Prom: From 8-Bit To Infinity.”

While most Proms events are more traditional classical symphonies, recent years have seen special events featuring music from science fiction movies and even a Doctor Who-themed night.

The gaming prom will be performed by the “electronically expanded” Royal Philarmonic Orchestra, conducted by Robert Ames. The program will include the European premiere of Ames’ arrangement of Battlefield 2042, originally written by Hildur Guðnadóttir and Sam Slater.

Other confirmed titles include Dear Esther – I Have Begun My Ascent by Jessica Curry and excerpts from Kingdom Hearts by Yoko Shimomura and Shadow of the Colossus by Kow Otani. The rest of the program is yet to be revealed, though the BBC says it will act as a “mini history of gaming.”

The event will be broadcasted live on BBC Radio 3, which should be accessible online internationally. It will be shown on the BBC 4 television channel on August 5 and available on-demand through the BBC iPlayer service, though both of these are officially restricted to the UK… in theory.


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