Good grief is there ever a lot of crossover classical stuff going on, much of it in the United Kingdom. Let’s see . . .
The Classic FM online service is teaming up with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and PlayStation to present a show titled PlayStation in Concert, billboarding “the very best in video game music.”
The RPO and the City of London Choir will serve up renditions of the soundtracks to: The Last of Us™, The Last Guardian™, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves™ and Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception™, Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture, LittleBigPlanet™, and Horizon Zero Dawn™
It all happens at the Royal Albert Hall on May 30. Speaking personally, I’ve tried for years to get into video games, but every time I play one I think, “gee, I could be practicing Bartok or Chopin on the piano right now,” and that’s the end of that. Still, I almost always love the scores to these things. How grand it would be to attend this concert. If you go, send a review to @hybridhighbrow.
Meanwhile I am following the Nonclassical music label out of London, which endeavors to get contemporary classical music performed in clubs on selected evenings. From the group’s About page:
“The success of the night partly stems from the fact that it presents classical as if it were rock or electronic music. Bands play through the pub’s PA, everyone has a pint in their hand and perhaps most importantly there are DJs playing throughout the night. Even the most sceptical visitors to the club can’t help but be stimulated by being so close to the high-quality musicianship presented at Nonclassical. Classical music can be part of everyone’s lives and this night is part of rediscovering its relevance.”
The outfit has a sample playlist on Spotify. I am particularly enjoying “Mohave Desert” by Floating Points.
Back here in the USA radiomilwaukee.org is promoting Between Two Worlds, a merger of folk and new American classical. That’s happening at the Helen Zelazo Center for the Performing Arts in Milwaukee on March 24. Here’s a sample of one of the artists’ songs:
So much great stuff. I want to get it all on one radio station! Someday . . .
