Why BBC Gaming Prom may have changed video game music forever – Reader’s Feature

metro.co.uk:

A reader offers his review of the BBC’s Gaming Prom and considers how it will affect the mainstream popularity of video game music.

Earlier this month, the 21st concert of this year’s BBC Proms season concluded with the first Gaming Prom, From 8-Bit to Infinity, with Robert Ames conducting the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall. For my over 10 years of attending video game music concerts, I have always viewed this event to be a goal that would be unachievable, with video game music being looked down on by the traditional classical music community as a contemporary oddity. Then all of a sudden, this year, both Classic FM and the BBC announce two concerts within two months of each other – it’s certainly made me shift my expectations very quickly.

For the benefit of Metro’s international audience, the BBC Proms is an eight-week festival of classical music held every summer in London for almost 130 years, with the BBC taking control of the programme since 1927. Its purpose is to provide an accessible route for the general public to experience the many forms of classical music, with pricing being significantly lower than that typically paid for a standard concert (e.g., standing tickets being sold on the day at £7).

Concerts are regularly broadcast both on radio and TV, embedding this festival as an unavoidable part of the British way of life, whether or not you deem yourself as patriotic. Because of the broadcasting element of the Proms, views of the orchestra can be obstructed by the increased lighting effects and constant moving of television cameras, but I personally found it to not be a distraction.

The concert started with an original piece by classical composer Matt Rogers, commissioned by the BBC,