Hudsonite helps create orchestras celebrating gaming, movie music

Music from holiday movies to be featured at Dec. 21 concert

by Charles Cassady

It’s a classic story. Boy meets girl. Boy and girl start a couple of offbeat symphony-orchestra ensembles together. There, simple as that, and now you have time left over to play video games or perhaps watch a movie.

But Hudson native Jaclyn Kurtz, the “girl” and co-founder of the Video Game Symphony Orchestra and its new spinoff, the Cinematic Symphony Orchestra, adds a few more “funny story” details on how these quirky concert groups got started.

“Our co-founder, Dr. Andrew Keller, and I met at Kent State. He was getting his doctorate in music theory and composition, I was getting my master’s in music theory and vocal performance, and we bonded over our love of video game music,” she said.

“Years later, we started dating. One day I turned to him and said, ‘I have a crazy idea, and I know you’re going to say no. We should start an orchestra that just plays video game music.’ And instead of calling me nuts, he said, ‘Let’s do it.’”

Kurtz, who now lives in Cuyahoga Falls, grew up near the old Hudson High School and used to walk to work at Saywell’s Drug Store. Today, she serves as cantor and choir member at St. Mary Catholic Church, provides musical lessons to youngsters and works as president and artistic director for the Video Game Symphony Orchestra.

As a harp player in addition to her vocals, Kurtz said video game music was very formative “in my love for classical music, but it was even more so for Andy.”

Keller, according to Kurtz, taught himself how to play the piano so that he could learn his favorite pieces from games like Zelda and Final Fantasy and movies like Titanic.

The duo’s Video Game Symphony Orchestra, started in 2023, is not the only such melodious project. Video Games Live, launched early in the 21st century at the Hollywood Bowl in California, is perhaps the most famous, though it actually passes from one local guest orchestra to another as it tours with its customized, multi-media, video-game light shows. The University of Maryland has its Gamer Symphony Orchestra, and PLAY (later “rePLAY”) toured to enthusiastic crowds. Some video-game icons (Sonic the Hedgehog, for example) have their own touring music concerts.

These events recognize that the early Pac-Man-fevered electronic chirps and beeps of arcades and console cartridges have evolved into full-fledged soundtracks, with themes ranging from whimsical to heroic to dark ambiance. Among composers who work in the gamer field are Koji Kondo, Austin Wintory and Paul McCartney (yes, that Paul McCartney).

“Andy went to one of the first video-game music concerts in North America, PLAY Symphony,” said Kurtz. “There, he got to meet several of the leading game composers in the world. … He also followed Video Games Live and similar projects through the years.”

She explained that the local effort was designed to create “the experience people get from these traveling shows but base it here, so that this music is always available for the people of Ohio and beyond to enjoy.”

The Video Game Symphony has performed at the Maltz Performing Arts Center, public library auditoriums, Kent State, the Akron Civic Theatre, and – to especially receptive audiences – at comic-book/anime/gaming conventions, such as FanExpo Cleveland and Colossalcon in Sandusky. The troupe also maintains a YouTube channel.

It is not unusual for the musicians and audience to cosplay as game characters. Down the line, Kurtz foresees putting out music recordings in the marketplace, just as Video Games Live has.

A more recent venture for the pair is the Cinematic Symphony Orchestra, reflecting Keller’s affection for movie soundtracks. One of Kurtz’s own favorite movie scores, from The Muppet Christmas Carol, highlights a holiday show at the Maltz Performing Arts Center in Cleveland, when the ensemble presents there on Dec. 21.

“It’s just magic to be able to perform this music I’ve loved since I was a child,” she said.

As for Kurtz’s favorite movie soundtracks, “there are so many! The Lord of the Rings is probably top for me. Howard Shore is a genius at using musical motifs to express and examine character and setting.”

Regarding video games, she enjoys playability as well as listenability.

“My favorite video game is an oldie many people will have never heard of, Chrono Trigger. It’s an amazing game with just the best soundtrack by Yasunori Mitsuda and Nobuo Uematsu. I would highly recommend this game for anyone who likes old-school Final Fantasy or Zelda,” Kurtz said. As for game platforms, I’m a Nintendo girl, all the way back to the NES.”

Future Video Game Symphony orchestrations are due to boot up again at Colossalcon in May 2025, as well as in Oberlin in March and Ashtabula in April. The Cinematic Symphony has regular engagements through spring at the Maltz Center, with a filmic repertoire covering romance through to science-fiction. The respective websites, videogamesymphony.com and cinematicsymphony.org, have full schedules. There is also an online open call for musicians who wish to join, giving a new meaning to “ready player one.”