Mario and Luigi hats dot the stage. A conductor waves the baton in a themed blazer. Large crescendos of the Super Mario Bros. theme echoed last May through the Maltz Performing Arts Center at Case Western Reserve University. The Video Game Symphony, based in Kent, has been playing popular tunes from games like these since being founded in 2023.
The group’s founders, Jaclyn Kurtz and Andrew Keller, met while pursuing graduate degrees at Kent State University’s School of Music. The two classical musicians bonded over another genre: scores from video games. Wanting to share the music they love to a larger audience, the two founded the Video Game Symphony last summer, currently practicing out of University Church on East Summit Street.
The symphony is one of only a handful dedicated to the performance of video game music. A few entirely collegiate ensembles exist at institutions like MIT, the University of Maryland and UCLA. Community ensembles of mostly amateur musicians exist in Des Moines, Seattle and the D.C. area. VGS sets itself apart by having half of its orchestra made up of professional musicians. The other half are students training to be professional musicians and a few talented volunteers with careers outside of music.
Keller, who also serves as CEO and music director for the VGS, hopes to grow the group into a fully professional symphony, an even rarer accomplishment. They continue to look for professional musicians interested in joining. Those interested can visit their website at https://videogamesymphony.com/?page_id=161.
Founders Keller and Kurtz met while Keller was pursuing his PhD in music theory and composition, and Kurtz was studying for her master’s degree. She has two: one in music theory and one in vocal performance.
Years after their time in school, the two perceived a big gap in the amount of great video game music and the amount of ensembles performing it.
“For me and Jackie, there was this giant void,” Keller said.
How to fill that void? Keller says the only way to do it was create a symphony themselves. Even in an area with plenty of professional orchestras, most are decades, if not a century old. So far, Keller is pleased with the symphony-building.
“Starting one from scratch is very difficult, but we did it very quickly,” he said.
Rehearsals began in June 2023, with the group originally practicing out of Woodsy’s Music. Quickly outgrowing that space, the ensemble moved to their current location at University Church.
Since last year, performances have been held at Kent State, the Maltz and ColossalCon, a large anime convention held at Kalahari Resorts in Sandusky.
Their biggest challenge in their first year? Actually having the music.
“Video game music for orchestra does not exist for the most part,” Keller said.
There are a few professional tours of the music that take place, but that music is not available to the symphony because the VGS is not yet a fully professional orchestra. Licensing it would be an expensive venture, as well.
Keller instead plays the part of the composer to recreate popular tunes for the group. In the last year, he has spent the biggest chunk of time arranging the symphony’s pieces, creating all the parts.
Finding musicians was another struggle. Performers are volunteers who share a similar mission to the founders, some of whom make long journeys from Columbus, Lakewood or Willoughby to practice in Kent.
As the symphony grows, Keller hopes the music will continue to appeal to a wider audience, not just those who love to play the games. Their performances at the Maltz and Kent State drew many people who knew nothing about the genre. The group has even had to turn away folks when a venue was at capacity.
“They didn’t know this music and they were blown away,” Keller said.
Some of the music heard in performances include scores from Pokémon, Final Fantasy, Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda and Skyrim.
VGS rehearses these pieces out of University Church once a week. The partnership started when Kurtz walked in and said hello. Penny Graves, secretary and organist at the church, was there when she entered.
“Jackie walked in the door and said ‘Hi, I’m from the Video Game Symphony and I’m looking for a place to rehearse,’” Graves said.
The request, which came as a surprise, arrived just as the congregation was centering its commitment to the local area. They changed the name of the church, from Kent Presbyterian Church to University Church, to do just that.
“We were just at the point where we were trying to reach out to the community,” said Nathan Long, director of pastoral care.
The request appealed to Graves, being a musician herself.
“Music in the church, this is great,” she said.
With a large space in the basement available for use, the church decided to lend the room to the group rent-free. While the basement area is able for university students to use for free, it has never been used for this purpose before.
Rehearsals have been taking place Monday nights in the building since last September. Church members can hear the group playing during their weekly Bible studies across the building. The congregation have connected with the musicians at a meet-and-greet over pizza and have been able to sit in at one of the group’s rehearsals. The organizations have become friendly and speak warmly about each other.
“Everyone there is so nice,” Long said.
“They have embraced us, they are super nice people, and they support us,” Keller said.
For Colton Snyder, youth leader at the church, it’s an opportunity for the church to both serve the community, and be a pillar of it, outside of weekly services.
“We can do stuff outside of Sunday,” Snyder said.
Catch the symphony in action in August, with performances this Saturday, Aug. 3 at 2 p.m. at the Cleveland Public Library, and a performance on Aug. 10 at 10 a.m. at the Akron-Summit County Library.
