Thomas Böcker
Salzgasse 6
D-01067 Dresden / Germany
Phone +49 351 3324029
mail@gameconcerts.com
VAT ID DE216059330
Booking:
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Stephanie Carlesimo
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Tel: 212-584-7567
Cell: 647-325-6757
The beginnings
From single beeps to symphonic sounds in 40 years – today it is not unusual for music from computer and video games to be recorded and performed by world class orchestras and released by renowned classical labels such as DECCA or Deutsche Grammophon.
At the end of the eighties, the fledgling genre of video game music left its virtual world for the very first time and moved into real concert halls. On 20th August 1987, composer and conductor Koichi Sugiyama presented his Family Classic Concert at the Suntory Hall in Tokyo – the first video game music concert in the world. Exactly sixteen years later to the day, on 20th August 2003, video game music cast its spell on concert-goers again – at the Gewandhaus concert hall in Leipzig, Germany.
With this program in Leipzig, producer and organiser Thomas Böcker had put together the first concert of video game music anywhere outside of Japan. The event’s huge success soon lead to a whole series of concerts – and thus, Spielekonzerte (German for game concerts) was born. From 2003 to 2007 these concerts were the opening for the annual Games Convention in Leipzig. They were permanently sold out, always documented by the international media, and visited by a young and enthusiastic audience, who were often experiencing their first encounter with symphonic music.
Similar events subsequently flourished all around the world.
Refinement of the concept
In 2008, the game music concert series moved to Cologne. Performed by the WDR Radio Orchestra in Cologne’s Philharmonic Hall, the concerts continued to lead the way as international pioneers of the genre; acclaimed performances such as Symphonic Shades, Symphonic Fantasies, Symphonic Legends and Symphonic Odysseys were all sold out. For the very first time, DECCA, a leading label for classical music, released a live concert recording of video game music. And with this, again for the first time, video game music reached the Top 15 in the German classical music charts. Further world firsts for symphonic video game music include the first live broadcast on radio in 2008 and the first video livestream online in 2009.
International breakthrough
In 2012 Thomas Böcker's production company, Merregnon Studios, made a return to Japan with Symphonic Fantasies Tokyo. It was the first video game music concert from a European production team ever to be performed in Japan, with more than 4,600 concert-goers enjoying the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra’s rendition. The prestige of the concert continues today with a global, digital release of the recording proving popular with fans.
Another landmark first was set in 2013 as the celebrated London Symphony Orchestra performed its first game concert with Final Symphony. A triumphant concert featuring music from Final Fantasy VI, VII and X, Final Symphony marks the tenth and most successful concert production for Thomas Böcker to date. No other concert has been performed as many times, with shows in Germany, the United Kingdom, Japan, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, the Netherlands, the USA, New Zealand, China and Austria. It also marked the start of a special relationship with the London Symphony Orchestra, with Merregnon Studios returning to London in 2014 to partner with the orchestra on the Symphonic Legends London concert. Following yet another sell out success, the orchestra went on to record the Final Symphony album at the world famous Abbey Road Studios – published by X5 Music Group.
Text: Matthias Oborski and Mark Robins
2015 Best Album - Arranged Album
Final Symphony
Annual Game Music Awards
2015 Cultural and Creative Pilots Germany
Producer Thomas Böcker
German Federal Government
2015 First Game Concert outside of Japan: 2003
Producer Thomas Böcker
Guinness World Records
2013 Outstanding Production – Concert
Final Symphony London
Annual Game Music Awards
2012 Outstanding Production – Concert
Symphonic Fantasies Tokyo
Annual Game Music Awards
2011 Outstanding Production – Concert
Symphonic Odysseys
Annual Game Music Awards
2011 Best Live Concert
Symphonic Odysseys
Original Sound Version Awards
2010 Best Arranged Album – Solo / Ensemble
Symphonic Fantasies
Annual Game Music Awards
2010 Best Live Concert
Symphonic Legends
Original Sound Version Awards
2010 Best Concert
Symphonic Legends
LEVEL magazine Sweden