The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses

The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses was a concert tour featuring music from Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda video game series. Jason Michael Paul Productions, who was licensed by Nintendo to produce and tour the show,[1] hired Jeron Moore to produce the show as well as Composer Chad Seiter to create the music.[2] The tour is named after the Golden Goddesses in the Zelda series.[3]

The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses
Associated albumThe Legend of Zelda 25th Anniversary Special Orchestra CD
Start dateJanuary 10, 2012 (2012-01-10)
End dateDecember 31, 2017 (2017-12-31)
Legs3
Websitewww.zelda-symphony.com

Music

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The name "Symphony of the Goddesses" refers not only to the concert program but also to the four-movement symphony recounting the storylines from several games in The Legend of Zelda series: A Link to the Past, Ocarina of Time, Twilight Princess, and The Wind Waker. The concert also highlighted orchestral renditions of music from other series games, including Link's Awakening, Majora's Mask, Spirit Tracks, Skyward Sword, and Tri Force Heroes.

Conductors of the concerts have included Eímear Noone,[4] Susie Seiter,[3] Amy Andersson.[5] Kelly Corcoran, Kevin Zakresky and Jessica Gethin.

History

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We were going to do the 25th Anniversary Symphony in Tokyo, but instead, how about we do it in three different cities and you guys help produce it, and then we'll look at this other thing after that?

Jeron Moore, producer of Symphony of the Goddesses

In June 2011, at Nintendo's Electronic Entertainment Expo press event, Jason Michael Paul Productions hired composer Chad Seiter and Producer Jeron Moore to create a four-minute overture spanning 25 years of Zelda music accompanied by images from the same period. After this performance, Shigeru Miyamoto of Nintendo announced that an orchestral CD would accompany the release of Skyward Sword, also produced by Jason Michael Paul Productions with Composer Chad Seiter and recorded by Hollywood recording engineer Bruce Botnick. A 25th Anniversary concert series would be performed in Tokyo, Los Angeles,[6] and London. All of the concerts were produced by Jason Michael Paul Productions.

Evolving from the 25th anniversary concert series, "The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses" concert series kicked off in January 2012 in Dallas,[7] and toured the U.S. and Canada.

The second season, known as "Second Quest" (after a feature found in many Zelda games) consisted of concerts in spring, summer, and fall of 2013.[8] The show went on hiatus after its final "Second Quest" performance in San Jose, California, at the San Jose Civic, performed by the Skywalker Ranch Orchestra.

The third season, known as "Master Quest", consisted of worldwide concerts in 2015 and 2016 and achieved the most success of any of the Zelda Symphony tours traveling to over 150 cities. This continued as the production further iterated until its tour concluded in 2018.[9][10][11]

Schedule

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Original season

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The San Francisco event in March 2012 included over 1000 attendees. The Los Angeles concert in June featured Zelda Williams (daughter of actor Robin Williams) as the emcee.[1] She was named after Princess Zelda, the video game series' titular character. A concert was held in May in Atlanta and was conducted by Susie Seiter.[3][12]

Date City Country Venue Conductor
March 28, 2012 San Francisco United States Davies Symphony Hall Eímear Noone
May 12, 2012 Atlanta Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre Susie Seiter
June 6, 2012 Los Angeles Greek Theatre Eímear Noone
July 26, 2012 Washington, D.C. The Filene Center at Wolf Trap National Park
September 15, 2012 Toronto Canada Sony Centre for the Performing Arts
September 22, 2012 Minneapolis United States Orpheum Theatre
October 12, 2012 Dallas AT&T Performing Arts Center
October 18, 2012 Boston Wang Theatre
October 25, 2012 Chicago Chicago Theatre
November 6, 2012 Calgary Canada Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium
November 28, 2012 New York City United States The Theater at Madison Square Garden
December 3, 2012 San Antonio The Majestic Theatre
December 8, 2012 West Palm Beach Raymond F. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts
December 9, 2012 Miami Adrienne Arsht Center
December 14, 2012 San Jose San Jose Civic Auditorium
January 26, 2013 Milwaukee The Riverside Theatre

Second Quest

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A concert was held in July 2013 in Baltimore. Concerts were held in August in Newark, New Jersey, September in Seattle, October in Grand Rapids, and December in San Jose, California.[13]

Two concerts were held in Canada: one in Montreal in June and another in Toronto in September. A concert in Mexico City was held in September.[13]

Master Quest

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Symphony of the Goddesses started a worldwide 2015 tour of a third season entitled "Master Quest".[9][10] "Master Quest" season was extended with performance dates through 2016.[11] The extended concert dates featured music and visuals from Tri Force Heroes for the Nintendo 3DS.[11]

Date City Country Venue Conductor
January 21, 2015 Nashville United States Schermerhorn Symphony Center
January 22, 2015
January 30, 2015 Honolulu Blaisdell Concert Hall
February 7, 2015 Tokyo Japan Tokyo International Forum Taizo Takemoto
February 27, 2015 Boston United States Symphony Hall Amy Andersson
March 2, 2015 Seattle Benaroya Hall
March 6, 2015 Monterrey Mexico Arena Monterrey
March 8, 2015 Mexico City Arena de Ciudad
March 20, 2015 Toronto Canada Sony Center PAC
April 16, 2015 Stockholm Sweden Ericsson Globe
April 17, 2015 London United Kingdom SSE/Wembley Arena
April 19, 2015 Düsseldorf Germany Mitsubishi Electric Hall
April 20, 2015 Munich Olympiahalle
April 23, 2015 Paris France Palais des Congrès
April 24, 2015 Milan Italy Teatro degli Arcimboldi
April 30, 2015 Atlanta United States Cobb Energy Center
May 3, 2015 Miami James L Knight Center
May 20, 2015 Edmonton Canada Northern Jubilee Hall Amy Andersson
May 22, 2015 Vancouver Queen Elizabeth Theater
May 23, 2015 Calgary Southern Jubilee Hall
May 30, 2015 Montreal Place des Arts
June 10, 2015 Las Vegas United States The Venetian
June 14, 2015 Los Angeles Walt Disney Concert Hall Amy Andersson
June 20, 2015 Austin The Long Center PAC
July 11, 2015 San Diego Copley Symphony Hall Amy Andersson
July 18, 2015 Orlando Dr. Phillips Center
August 28, 2015 Charlottesville John Paul Jones Arena Amy Andersson
August 29, 2015 San Francisco Davies Symphony Hall
September 10, 2015 Durham Durham Performing Arts Center
September 11, 2015 St. Louis Powell Hall Amy Andersson
September 12, 2015
September 13, 2015
September 16, 2015 Washington, D.C. Music Center at Strathmore
September 18, 2015 Philadelphia Mann Center
September 25, 2015 Providence Providence Performing Arts Center
October 1, 2015 Chicago Auditorium Theatre
October 2, 2015 Indianapolis Old National Center
October 3, 2015 Milwaukee Milwaukee Theatre
October 13, 2015 New York City Barclays Center
October 15, 2015 Salt Lake City Abravanel Hall
October 18, 2015 Columbus Ohio Theater
October 21, 2015 Houston Jones Hall
October 22, 2015
October 24, 2015 Dallas Music Hall at Fair Park Eímear Noone
October 25, 2015 Portland Keller Auditorium
November 8, 2015 Hamburg Germany O2 World Amy Andersson
November 11, 2015 Amsterdam Netherlands Heineken Music Hall
November 12, 2015 Brussels Belgium Palais 12
November 13, 2015 Madrid Spain Palacio Vista Alegre
November 14, 2015 Barcelona Auditori Forum
November 15, 2015 Rome Italy Auditorium Conciliazione
November 21, 2015 Zürich Switzerland Hallenstadion
November 22, 2015 Dublin Ireland Convention Centre
December 5, 2015 San Jose United States City National Civic
January 21, 2016 Nashville Schermerhorn Symphony Center
January 22, 2016
February 23, 2016 Boston Symphony Hall
March 8, 2016 Costa Mesa Segerstrom Center for the Arts
March 19, 2016 Toronto Canada Sony Centre
March 24, 2016 Jacksonville United States Moran Theatre
March 26, 2016 † Kansas City Music Hall Kansas City
March 31, 2016 Memphis The Orpheum
April 1, 2016 New Orleans Saenger Theater
April 3, 2016 Columbus Ohio Theater
April 8, 2016 Charlottesville John Paul Jones Area
April 16, 2016 Miami Arsht Center
April 23, 2016 London United Kingdom SSE/Wembley Arena
May 7, 2016 † Santiago Chile Theater Cariola
May 11, 2016 Guadalajara Mexico Teatro Diana
May 13, 2016 Monterrey Arena Monterrey
May 15, 2016 Mexico City Arena de Ciudad
May 20, 2016 Nashville United States Schermerhorn Symphony Center
May 21, 2016 San Antonio Majestic Theater
June 13, 2016 Los Angeles Dolby Theatre
June 23, 2016 Austin Long Center
June 25, 2016 Montreal Canada Place des Arts
July 14, 2016 Denver United States Boettcher Concert Hall
July 22, 2016 San Diego Copley Symphony Hall
August 6, 2016 Orlando Walt Disney Theater
August 21, 2016 San Francisco Davies Symphony Hall
September 10, 2016 Atlanta Cobb Performing Arts Center
September 14, 2016 Seattle Benaroya Hall
September 17, 2016 Portland Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
September 21, 2016 Edmonton Canada Northern Jubilee Hall
September 22, 2016 Calgary Jack Singer Concert Hall
September 23, 2016 Vancouver Queen Elizabeth Theatre
September 25, 2016 Philadelphia United States The Mann Center
September 29, 2016 Amsterdam Netherlands Heineken Music Hall Giacomo Loprieno
September 30, 2016 Milan Italy Arcimboldi
October 1, 2016 Zürich Switzerland Hallenstadion
October 2, 2016 Stuttgart Germany Porsche Arena
October 5, 2016 Vienna Austria Stadthalle
October 7, 2016 Geneva Switzerland Geneva Arena
October 8, 2016 Paris France Palais des Congrès
October 9, 2016 Birmingham United Kingdom Symphony Hall
October 12, 2016 Antwerp Belgium Stadsschouwburg Antwerp
October 13, 2016 Manchester United Kingdom Bridgewater Hall
October 14, 2016 Lisbon Portugal Coliseu de Lisboa
October 15, 2016 Essen Germany Grugahalle Giacomo Loprieno
October 19, 2016 Stockholm Sweden Stockholm Globe
October 20, 2016 Glasgow United Kingdom Clyde Auditorium
October 21, 2016 Berlin Germany Tempodrom
October 22, 2016 Warsaw Poland Torwar Hall
October 23, 2016 Prague Czech Republic Forum Karlin
October 28, 2016 Barcelona Spain Auditori Forum Giacomo Loprieno
October 29, 2016 Madrid Palacio Vistalegre
October 30, 2016 Bilbao Palacio Euskalduna
November 5, 2016 Washington, D.C. United States Warner Theater
November 10, 2016 Louisville Whitney Hall
November 11, 2016 Rochester Kodak Hall
November 12, 2016 Chicago Chicago Auditorium
November 13, 2016 Newark NJPAC
November 17, 2016 Charleston NCPAC
November 18, 2016 Houston Revention Center
November 19, 2016 Milwaukee Riverside Theater
November 20, 2016 Fresno Saroyan Theatre
November 21, 2016 Phoenix Kodak Hall
December 4, 2016 Salt Lake City Abravanel Hall
December 10, 2016 San Jose City National Civic
December 16, 2016 St. Petersburg Mahaffey Theater
January 7, 2017 Fort Worth Bass Performance Hall
January 13, 2017 Honolulu Blaisdell Concert Hall
January 21, 2017 Oklahoma City Civic Center Music Hall

† Multiple performances held the same day.

Zelda Symphony of the Goddesses

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Symphony of the Goddesses started a new 2017 worldwide tour season.[14] The five-movement symphony featured an all new movement from Skyward Sword, a much-anticipated arrangement from Breath of the Wild, and a reimagined score including music from A Link Between Worlds, Twilight Princess, the remake of Majora's Mask, Ocarina of Time, A Link to the Past, and more.[15]

Date City Country Venue
July 22, 2017 Washington, D.C. United States The Filene Center at Wolf Trap National Park
September 9, 2017 Quebec City Canada Grand Theatre de Quebec
September 15, 2017 Toronto Canada Sony Centre
September 22, 2017 Seattle United States Paramount Theatre
September 23, 2017 Portland United States Keller Auditorium
September 30, 2017 Los Angeles United States Dolby Theatre
October 6, 2017 Kansas City United States Kansas City Music Hall
October 7, 2017 Memphis United States Orpheum Theatre
October 8, 2017 Des Moines United States Des Moines Civic Center
October 20, 2017 New York City United States United Palace Theatre
October 21, 2017 Boston United States Wang Theatre
October 27, 2017 San Antonio United States Majestic Theatre
October 29, 2017 Sydney Australia Sydney Opera House
November 1, 2017 Detroit United States Orchestra Hall
November 3, 2017 Baltimore Lyric Theatre @ Model PAC
November 4, 2017 Cleveland United States State Theatre
November 5, 2017 Columbus Ohio Theatre
November 6, 2017 Phoenix Phoenix Symphony Hall
November 10, 2017 Durham DPAC
November 11, 2017 Norfolk United States Chrysler Hall
November 13, 2017 Monterrey Mexico Auditorio Pabellón
November 16, 2017 Atlanta, GA United States Cobb Energy PAC
November 17, 2017 Knoxville United States Knoxville Civic Auditorium
November 18, 2017 Chicago United States Chicago Auditorium Theatre
November 21, 2017 London United Kingdom Eventim Apollo
November 24, 2017 Düsseldorf Germany Mitsubishi Electric Halle
November 25, 2017 Barcelona Spain Auditori Fòrum – CCIB
November 26, 2017 Florence Italy Nelson Mandela Forum
November 30, 2017 Vancouver Canada Queen Elizabeth Theatre
December 1, 2017 Edmonton Canada Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium
December 2, 2017 Calgary Canada Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium
December 3, 2017 Milwaukee United States Riverside Theater
December 8, 2017 Montreal Canada Place des Arts
December 9, 2017 San Jose United States City National Civic
December 11, 2017 Dublin Ireland Bord Gáis Energy Theatre
December 14, 2017 Pittsburgh United States Heinz Hall
December 15, 2017 New Orleans United States Saenger Theatre
December 16, 2017 Miami United States The Arsht Center
December 27, 2017 Philadelphia United States Kimmel Center
December 29, 2017 Oklahoma City United States Civic Center Music Hall
December 30, 2017 Salt Lake City United States Abravanel Hall

Other performances

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In September 2015, the Nintendo World Store in New York City hosted a Zelda Symphony event, which consisted of a live musical performance by a string quartet from The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses, an ocarina demo by David Ramos (a.k.a. DocJazz), photo opportunities of cosplaying fans, and Zelda Symphony merchandise.[16][17] Executive producer Jason Michael Paul, Associate Producer Jacob Battersby and conductor Amy Andersson were also in attendance.[18]

On October 13, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert hosted, as its musical guest, a performance from The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses (with conductor Amy Andersson) to promote the tour dates as well as the release of Tri Force Heroes.[11][19][20]

Reception

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The series has been well received by the video game press. Writing for The Tech, Jessica Pourian said the silent nature of series protagonist Link worked well with the video displayed during the concert, helping to immerse the audience more than with video game concerts where dialogue is included. She noted extraordinary applause for the concert. She said she left the event wanting to go back and play Zelda games.[4]

Tony Ponce of Destructoid found the music "awe-inspiring", "pure magic", and "as rich and as varied as the games themselves", while expressing a desire to hear some of the music cut from the performance.[1]

Wired noted "many truly breathtaking moments" during the concert, saying the concert highlighted key moments in the music of the series. Wired said people need not even know the series well to enjoy the concert. Wired did complain of "dreadful live camerawork" and noted that the crowd was not particularly reserved.[3]

Stephen Totilo of Kotaku was less enthusiastic about the concert, saying he liked it but did not love it, and criticized the triple-encore structure and the emphasis on battle themes, saying he thought the series was more about adventure than combat.[21]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Ponce, Tony (June 16, 2012). "A night of magic with Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses". Destructoid. Retrieved August 5, 2013.
  2. ^ "The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses – Nintendo Official Site". Nintendo.com. Retrieved August 17, 2013.
  3. ^ a b c d Z (May 20, 2012). "Symphony of the Goddesses: A Black Tie, Green Tunic Affair". Wired. Retrieved August 5, 2013.
  4. ^ a b J. Pourian, Jessica (April 3, 2012). "CONCERT REVIEW: A symphony fit for the goddesses". The Tech. MIT. Retrieved August 5, 2013.
  5. ^ "Music Director and Conductor for the 2015-2016 world tour of "The Legend of Zelda Symphony of the Goddesses"". amyanderssonconductor.com. Retrieved October 7, 2015.
  6. ^ "Nintendo Celebrates 25 Years of The Legend of Zelda with Symphony Concert". Enhanced Online News. Business Wire. July 21, 2011. Retrieved August 5, 2013.
  7. ^ Jason Michael Paul Productions - Feed The Gamer
  8. ^ Dyer, Mitch (June 24, 2013). "Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses Concert Gets 'Second Quest'". IGN. j2 Global. Retrieved August 5, 2013.
  9. ^ a b Copeland, Wesley (December 2, 2014). "Tour Dates Announced for Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses". IGN. j2 Global. Retrieved December 2, 2014.
  10. ^ a b Evry, Max (December 2, 2014). "The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses Master Quest Touring in 2015". ComingSoon.net. Retrieved December 2, 2014.
  11. ^ a b c d ""The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses -- Master Quest" to tour the globe in 2016". Nintendo. October 13, 2015. Retrieved October 16, 2015.
  12. ^ Totilo, Stephen (September 5, 2012). "11 New Dates and Cities for Nintendo's Big Zelda Concert Series". Kotaku. Retrieved August 5, 2013.
  13. ^ a b "Zelda Symphony". Zelda Symphony. Retrieved August 17, 2013.
  14. ^ "Zelda Symphony of the Goddesses". zelda-symphony.com. Retrieved September 26, 2017.
  15. ^ "Zelda Symphony of the Goddesses". MGP Live. Retrieved September 26, 2017.
  16. ^ "The Nintendo World Store Will Host A Special The Legend Of Zelda: Symphony Of The Goddesses Master Quest Event". ZeldaInformer. June 9, 2015. Retrieved October 16, 2015.
  17. ^ Paul Zimmerman (September 15, 2012). "Symphony of the Goddesses". Getty Images. Retrieved October 16, 2015.
  18. ^ Amy Andersson. "A Look At The Zelda Symphony Event At The Nintendo World Store". Retrieved October 16, 2015.
  19. ^ Peterson, Andrea (October 15, 2015). "Stephen Colbert and the Triumph of the Nerd". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 16, 2015.
  20. ^ "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert Video - 10/13/2015 (Sarah Silverman, Elijah Wood, The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses) - CBS.com". CBS. October 14, 2015. Retrieved October 16, 2015.
  21. ^ Totilo, Stephen (November 29, 2012). "The Ups and Downs of a Night Out at the Official Zelda Concert". Kotaku. Gawker Media. Retrieved August 5, 2013.
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