Tommy Tallarico, Executive Producer of Video Games Live, made a special visit to Strong National Museum of Play recently to spend time with the CHEGheads and museum President and CEO, Rollie Adams. After touring the museum and the NCHEG collection Tallarico remarked, “This museum is the most amazing thing I’ve seen in my entire life!”
In the area for a performance of Video Games Live, Tallarico talked with the CHEGheads about issues ranging from the role of music and composers in the video-game industry to the challenges and opportunities surrounding the museum’s permanent electronic-games exhibit, projected to open in 2012. CHEGheads J.P. Dyson and Eric Wheeler continued the conversation with Tallaricio the following evening prior to his concert at Artpark, in Lewistown, New York.
For anyone unfamiliar with Video Games Live, this is the largest live orchestration of classic video-game music ever performed. Since 2002, Tallarico and fellow video-game music composer, Jack Wall, have been producing, performing, and updating their repertoire.
As the interactive segments of Video Games Live performances illustrate, Tallarico is not simply a composer of music, but a person truly passionate about musical play. Du
ring these interactive segments he randomly selects audience members to play classic video games on a large projection screen. As each lucky participant plays the game, the orchestra plays the accompanying music and sound effects, improvising each nuance of the music to match the live game play. The result is a truly unique multi-sensory experience.
The CHEGheads and our Strong colleagues were delighted that Tallarico took time out of his busy schedule to visit NCHEG. We look forward to the next opportunity to hear him in concert and host him here in Rochester.
