From Star Wars to Donkey Kong, SA orchestra redefines classical space

Founded in January 2015 by artistic director and conductor Paul van Zuilenburg, the SCO is a full community orchestra comprising amateur and professional musicians who perform accessible repertoires such as Broadway show tunes and light classical music. The orchestra has had 18 performances to date and Gameplay will be the first South African production that brings together video game soundtracks and a full-scale symphony orchestra.

The programme will include music from blockbuster games such as World of Warcraft, SimCity, The Legend of Zelda, Final Fantasy and Donkey Kong. Conducted by Van Zuilenburg, the SCO will be joined by the South African National Youth Choir. The musical performance will also be accompanied by projected visuals arranged by Spanish artist Andres Sotto.

Speaking to Music In Africa, Van Zuilenburg said he had always wanted to put together a video game soundtrack concert. “It has always been a dream of mine to do music from the video game world as there is amazing music there that very few people not familiar with the genre are aware of. I also found Spanish arranger Andres Sotto who has given me all the rights to use his arrangements for the show,” he said.  

Asked about the kind of audience he was expecting to see at the concert, Van Zuilenburg said: “Firstly I hope that our normal audience we have built over the past two years will attend – maybe out of curiosity but also because we have a track record of doing fantastic shows. Secondly, I would like to invite all gamers, young and old and anybody who loves the genre, to join us. Hopefully we will have a nice, big crowd.”

Van Zuilenburg said the orchestra would play music from high-fantasy, action-adventure video games. The conductor, however, wouldn’t disclose the full repertoire.

“I have not finalised the set list yet because I have enough music for two shows,” Zuilenburg said. “But I can tell you that we will do a 10-minute Legend of Zelda compilation, ‘Heart of Pandaria’ from World of Warcraft, ‘Dragonborn’ from Skyrim, Super Mario Bros, Donkey Kong, Undertale and Final Fantasy. I can’t give it all away.”

Van Zuilenburg said the first time he had heard about such shows outside South Africa was through a concert series called Video Games Live. The series consist of video game music segments performed by a live orchestra with video footage as well as synchronised lighting and effects.

The SCO has already done a show called Space Odyssey where the first half consisted of music by composer Gustav Holst. The second half featured music from the Star Wars film franchise.

 "We have done a movie show that had soundtracks from Forest Gump, Indiana Jones, Star Wars, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Prince of Egypt, The Lord of the Rings and Crimson Tide,” Van Zuilenburg said. “The Andrew Lloyd Webber show had extracts from The Phantom of the Opera, Evita, Jesus Christ Superstar, Cats and Sunset Boulevard.”

Stellenbosch City Orchestra performing during the Space Odyssey show.

If the project is successful, organisers said they would take the show to other places such as Bloemfontein and Gauteng province. Made up of 40-55 members, depending on who is available for each show, the SCO is based on the successful model of Van Zuilenburg’s Bloemfontein City Orchestra, which is also made up of amateur and professional musicians.

Tickets for Gameplay are available through Computicket for R230 ($17). Block bookings of 10 or more will get discounted tickets at R185 each.

Here is a video of one of the soundtracks the SCO will be playing at the concert: