iDIG Music Festival Concludes With ‘Video Games Live’ Concert

In its inaugural year, the Dublin International Game (iDIG) Music Festival kicked things off to a great start in the Convention Centre, Dublin with its 3 day line-up nearly completely sold out!

 

Day 3 of the festival which allows fans to celebrate and learn about the music which defines and shapes how we relate to video games, and encapsulates the times we played them, takes place today (Saturday 4^th April), concluding with a Video Games Live concert from 8pm.

 

The concert will showcase music and video from games old and new including; The Legend of Zelda, Halo, World of Warcraft, Mario, Donkey Kong, Skyrim, Final Fantasy and many more. Performed by The National Youth Orchestra of Ireland alongside the Maynooth University Chamber Choir and the Enchiriadis Chamber Choir, it will be conducted by top composers; Eímear Noone, Chris Tin, Russell Brower, Neal Acree and Craig Stuart Garfinkle, and overseen by veteran great Tommy Tallarico.

 

Described as having ‘the power and emotion of a symphony orchestra mixed with the excitement and energy of a rock concert and the technology and interactivity of a video game all completely synchronized to amazing cutting edge video screen visuals, state-of-the-art lighting and special on-stage interactive segments with the audience,’ this explosive experience is one for fans of video games and the orchestra alike and something people of all ages can enjoy. Tickets are available here.

 

Day 1 and 2 of the festival showcased a multitude of talent and entertainment from the gaming music industry.

 

Featuring some of the biggest shows in gaming music, it included performances by The Triforce Quartet playing string quartet versions of favourite themes, The Spoony Bards – Belfast’s heavy rock video game rebels, and a unique performance from The DIT Irish Traditional Music Ensemble in which they created custom versions of some of the great video game themes, all with an Irish twist.

 

There were exclusive discussion sessions, inspiring talks and masterclasses from some of the top composers in the industry including Neal Acree (World of Warcraft Cinematic Composer), Craig Stuart Garfinkle (World of Warcraft and Baldur’s Gate Composer), Christopher Tin (Grammy winning Civilization IV composer), Russell Brower (Blizzard Games composing legend), Tommy Tallarico (creator Video Games Live), Eímear Noone (The Legend of Zelda and World of Warcraft composer and conductor), and Jillian Aversa (Halo, vocalist) amongst others.

 

Additionally, there were gaming contests, interactive workshops led by Martin Clancy in which attendees learned how to create their own game scores, and Cosplay was also a welcome feature throughout the festival – including a one-of-a-kind ‘CosBall’ with prizes for best costumes in Everleigh Gardens on Thursday night.

 

After the huge success of its first year, here’s hoping iDIG will return again!

 

For more information see idigmusicfest.com. Tickets available here.