Iowa symphonies team up to perform music from video games at two free shows

The Des Moines Gamer Symphony partners with the ISU Symphony Orchestra to bring a fresh set of video game-themed arrangements to central Iowans with two upcoming shows.

And in several cases, these are music symphonies that were never intended to be played.

“Much of this music was written, not for human beings, but for synthesizers… some of the things are much more challenging for human beings to execute," said Jonathan Govias, the director of orchestral activities at Iowa State University, regarding the songs. "I want to dispel any notion that this is low-hanging fruit. 'Hollow Knight' for example is fiendishly difficult.”

Songs created for video games might be difficult because of an impossible time signature, a sequence of notes that are nearly impossible to play in rapid sequence on a given instrument or something else entirely.

Aaron Barker, the founder of the Des Moines Gamer Symphony, pointed to "Dancing Mad" from "Final Fantasy VI," as a dream performance of his that would be incredibly difficult to pull off.

"It has an orchestra. It requires an organ ― because there’s a whole bunch of organ music in the middle of it, and a rock band… and there’s a choir singing everything," Barker said. “It is one of the most awesome video game songs I have ever heard. Talk about logistics… it would be a monumental undertaking.”

Govias and the Iowa State University Symphony Orchestra will join the Des Moines Gamer Symphony Orchestra to perform a free concert showcasing some of the most memorable video game music of the last 30 years at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 9, at Valley High School's Staplin Performing Arts Center at 3650 Woodland Ave. in West Des Moines.

The symphonies perform a second show in Ames on Friday, Oct. 14, at 7:30 p.m. in the Atrium of Howe Hall, 537 Bissell Road, on the ISU campus where the band will be playing under a Space Shuttle aileron. Fittingly, that free event will be proceeded by a "Super Smash Bros." tournament starting at 2:30 p.m. in support of the symphony.

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The two groups together will make up the roughly 100 instrumentalists performing a selection of nine arrangements from a variety of video games dating as far back as 1994's "Donkey Kong Country" and as recently as 2017's "Hollow Knight." From the dates between the performers are also pulling music from franchises such as "Mass Effect" and "League of Legends."

Barker organized the local Gamer Symphony back in 2019, inspired by a similar program he was involved with at the University of Maryland. When the pandemic hit, he kept the organization going with virtual shows. Last year, the Des Moines Gamer Symphony returned to in-person performances with a show at the Jamie Herd Amphitheater that drew 500 attendees. Earlier this year, the Des Moines Gamer Symphony received nonprofit status.

For Baker, video game music has been a love of his since age five.

“I have a distinct memory of taking the soundtrack from 'Super Smash Brothers Melee' and putting it in my mom’s boom box and running back and forth. I could just never hold still when I heard it," Baker reminisced.

For Valarie Wedgeworth, video game music also has a nostalgic quality, despite the fact that she hasn't done much more than dabble in the medium.

“On Christmas Day of 1990, the boys got their first Nintendo. On that day, me and my brother tried to play and we couldn’t get past the first screen,” said Wedgeworth, a central Iowan who started playing flute 54 years ago and has been with the Gamer Symphony since 2019. "Both my boys love video games and it was our quality time when they were kids. I would sit there and watch them play for hours.”

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Over the course of watching her kids play she came to know the music of games like "Super Mario Bros." and "Castlevania," the latter of which has a song called "Riddle" that she's still a fan of.

Coming from a musical family, Wedgeworth's son, John, even started a podcast — "Nerd Noise Radio" — themed around video game music. When Wedegewroth heard the Gamer Symphony was forming, she decided to join up. Since then, she has been impressed by the talent on show with the group and the selection of songs that's been displayed across performances.

“It’s absolutely amazing ― I play for a lot of retirement homes and I think that seniors would like it too," Wedgeworth said. "The music is just so good."

Govias played computer games like "Kings Quest" and "Quest for Glory" when he was younger. It was only just a few years ago that he returned to the hobby.

“This has been an education for me as well," Govias said. "I have not engaged with this repertoire so far. I own an Xbox One and I just finished the legendary edition of 'Mass Effect.'"

The importance of this music for Govias comes not only from community interest in the music but because he knows it's music his students are passionate about. That's part of the reason he planned to organize a video game-centric concert even before Barker reached out to him.

"I poll (my students) on repertoire they want to perform and I get one or two notes in my inbox," he said. “I poll them for suggestions of video game music and my inbox is flooded."

It's an enthusiasm shared by his own children who immediately recommended the music of "Hollow Knight," a video game that takes cues from the "Castlevania" games Wedgeworth watched her own kids play back in the day.

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“I want my graduating students to understand that they have a very different role in the life of a community than simply providing Mozart and Beethoven," Govias said.

With the two performance groups joining forces and Govias offering tweaks to the compositions, the groups will be able to tackle more demanding music in a more robust way.

Much in the same way film soundtracks can take on a variety of styles and tones, attendees should expect a wide variety in music shown at these upcoming events.

"My theory… is that video game music is a supergenre, it’s kind of like film music in that way… anything can be video game music," said Barker. "It can be rock, it can be pop, it can be symphony orchestra and everything in between, any type of music can be under the umbrella of video game music.”

More information about the Des Moines Gamer Symphony can be found at dsmgso.org. More information about the Iowa State University Symphony Orchestra can be found at music.iastate.edu.

Isaac Hamlet covers arts, entertainment and culture at the Des Moines Register. Reach him at ihamlet@gannett.com or 319-600-2124, follow him on Twitter @IsaacHamlet.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Gamer Symphony plays music 'challenging for human beings to execute'