Iconic Music From Chart-Busting Games Mario™, Halo®, Metal Gear Solid®, Final Fantasy®, Warcraft ® and More Featured in Show Produced by Top Game Music
Composers Tommy Tallarico and Jack Wall
WEDNESDAY, JULY 6, 2005, AT 8 PM
"Video games have become one of the most thrilling and electrifying forms of entertainment in the 21st century," says Tallarico. "We intend to capture that same excitement level to help create the ultimate celebration of video games for everyone to enjoy. Never before has the music of video games been presented on this scale. Fans of video games are going to be amazed at what we have in store for them."
Among the most popular game franchises showcased in this program are Mario™, Zelda®, Halo®, Metal Gear Solid®, Warcraft®, Myst®, Final Fantasy®, Castlevania®, Medal of Honor™, Sonic™, Tron©, Tomb Raider®, Advent Rising, Headhunter, Beyond Good & Evil™, Splinter Cell®, Ghost Recon™, Rainbow Six® and EverQuest® II. Also featured is a classic arcade game medley of music of games ranging from Pong® to Donkey Kong®.
"Video game music is not bleeps and bloops anymore. People are absolutely shocked when they hear this music," adds Wall. "The success of this program will demonstrate to the world that video game music can command the attention of gamers and non-gamers alike."
The Hollywood Bowl show launches a national six-week tour produced by Tallarico and Wall's Mystical Stone Entertainment LLC, and promoted by Clear Channel Music Group. "Video Games Live" travels to such celebrated venues as Red Rocks in Denver, CO, Chastain Park in Atlanta, GA and Tweeter Center in Boston, MA, among others. A global tour follows.
Mark Watters is a five-time Emmy Award-winner whose composition credits include Doug's First Movie, The Return Of Jafar and Aladdin, King of Thieves, The Pebble and the Penguin and All Dogs Go To Heaven 2 as well as over 300 episodes of television series including The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Tiny Toon Adventures, The New Pink Panther, All Dogs Go To Heaven, 101 Dalmatians and A Very Muppet Christmas. In 1996, Watters served as music director for the Centennial Olympic Games in Atlanta, for which he received an Emmy Award for Outstanding Musical Direction and an Emmy nomination for the song "Faster, Higher, Stronger," performed by opera legend Jessye Norman and co-written with lyricist Lorraine Feather. He returned to the Olympic podium again as music director for the 2002 Salt Lake Olympic Winter Games, where he had the honor of working with the acclaimed Utah Symphony and the Grammy Award-winning Mormon Tabernacle Choir. As conductor and arranger for country music star Trisha Yearwood, Watters has guest conducted such orchestras as the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the London Symphony, the Detroit Symphony, and the Atlanta Symphony. He has performed as a saxophonist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic led by conductors such as Leonard Bernstein, Zubin Mehta, Pierre Boulez, Erich Leinsdorf, and Michael Tilson Thomas. Other credits include the Joffrey Ballet Orchestra, the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, and the Ojai Festival Orchestra.
Created by industry-leading video game composers Tommy Tallarico and Jack Wall, Mystical Stone Entertainment, LLC is a frontrunner in the field of live game music performance. Working with some of the top games of all time, Mystical Stone has created a unique event of music, video, lasers, lights and live action.
Clear Channel Music Group, a division of Clear Channel Entertainment, focuses on global, national and local promoting, venue and festival management and artist touring services. The Music Group promotes live music concerts by a majority of the world's most popular performers, as well as many new up-and-coming artists. It currently owns, operates, or exclusively books approximately 80 live entertainment venues in the U. S., including 46 amphitheaters, 10 indoor theaters, and 25 clubs plus 8 venues in Europe. Clear Channel Entertainment is a subsidiary of Clear Channel Communications (NYSE:CCU), a global leader in the out-of-home advertising industry.
One of the largest natural amphitheaters in the world, with a seating capacity of nearly 18,000, the HOLLYWOOD BOWL has been the summer home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic since its official opening in 1922, and in 1991 gave its name to the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, a resident ensemble that has filled a special niche in the musical life of Southern California. To this day, $1 buys a seat at the top of the Bowl for many of the Los Angeles Philharmonic's concerts. While the Bowl is best known for its sizzling summer nights, during the day California's youngest patrons enjoy "SummerSounds: Music for Kids at the Hollywood Bowl," the Southland's most popular summer arts festival for children, now in its 37th season. Attendance figures over the past several decades have soared: in 1980 the Bowl first topped the half-million mark and close to one million admissions have been recorded. In February 2005, the Hollywood Bowl was named Best Major Outdoor Concert Venue at the 16th Annual Pollstar Concert Industry Awards; it is no wonder that the Bowl's summer music festival has become as much a part of a Southern California summer as beaches and barbecues, the Dodgers, and Disneyland.
EDITORS PLEASE NOTE:
WEDNESDAY, JULY 6, 2005 at 8 PM
HOLLYWOOD BOWL, 2301 N. Highland Ave. in Hollywood
Video Games Live
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Mark Watters, Conductor
Tommy Tallarico & Jack Wall, Executive Producers
Tickets ($4 - $92) are on sale now at the Hollywood Bowl Box Office, by calling Ticketmaster at 213.480.3232, at all Ticketmaster outlets (Robinsons May, Tower Records, and Ritmo Latino locations), or online at HollywoodBowl.com. Groups of 12 or more may be eligible for a 20% discount, subject to availability; call 323.850.2050 for further details.
For general information or to request a brochure, call 323.850.2000.
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Cathy Williams, 213.972.3689; Laura Stegman, 310.470.6321; photos, 213.972.3034