Sunday, November 17, 2019, 7pm Zellerbach Hall Video Games Live with the UC Berkeley Symphony Orchestra Tommy Tallarico, creator, executive producer, host, guitar Emmanuel Fratianni, conductor Jason Paige, soloist Chad Gorr, lighting director and production manager Derek Almstead, audio engineer Steve Miller, video operator Cal Performances’ 2019–20 season is sponsored by Wells Fargo. 15 PROGRAM NOTES Video Games Live™? is an immersive concert new friends as we celebrate a pastime that has event celebrating music from the most popular evolved to become an important part of our video games of all time. Created, produced, and culture. Even if you don’t play video games, we hosted by well-known game industry veteran promised that you’ve never heard or seen an and superstar Tommy Tallarico, it features orchestral per formance quite like this. orchestras from around the world performing to exclusive, synchronized video footage Achievements & Accomplishments and lighting, and with celebrity Internet solo Incorporated in 2002, Video Games Live is the per­­formers, electronic percussion, live action, first and most successful video game touring and unique interactive segments, all creating concert in the world, having been performed an explosive, one-of-a-kind entertainment ex- over 500 times in 42 countries on five conti- per i ence. Special events surround the show, nents. Over 11,000 people were present for the including a pre-show costume contest and debut performance at the Hollywood Bowl with a post-show meet-and-greet with top game the Los Angeles Philharmonic and since then, composers. Pre- and post-show events are open over two million people have experienced the to all ticket holders. production. Video Games Live has released 10 What’s the best way to describe Video albums worldwide (all of which debuted in the Games Live? Picture the energy and excite- Billboard Top 10) as well as an award-winning ment of a rock concert mixed with the power full-length feature DVD/Blu-Ray. In 2010, and emotion of a symphony orchestra per- the show aired nationally on PBS, quickly formance, combined together through the becoming one of the network’s all-time top- technology, interactivity, stunning visuals, rated specials. Inducted into the Guinness and fun that only video games can provide. Book of World Records as the biggest and Completely synchronized cutting-edge video longest-running symphonic concert in the screen visuals, state-of-the-art lighting and world, Video Games Live continues to break special effects, stage-show production values, new ground and thrill audiences worldwide and special interactive segments with the audi- with new content each year. ence dazzle crowds of all ages—gamers and For more information please visit video- non-gamers alike. gameslive.com. This is a concert event put on by the video game industry to help encourage and support A note from Video Games Live creator, the culture and art form that video games now producer, and host Tommy Tallarico: represent. Video Games Live bridges a gap for “My dream when I started Video Games entertainment by exposing new generations Live in 2002 was to demonstrate how artistic of music lovers and fans to the symphonic and culturally significant video games have orchestral experience while also providing become. Aside from opening the eyes of non- a completely new and unique experience for gamers to the industry, my goal is to help families and/or non-gamers. It’s a show for the inspire a whole new generation of people to entire family. appreciate symphonic music. Video Games Live is not just a concert, but Video Games Live has become the most a celebration of the entire video game industry successful video game tour in the world. As we that people of all ages will enjoy. continue to travel around the globe, we carry Whether it’s the power and passion of the on the commitment to reaffirm that video more recent blockbusters or the excitement games have evolved into a true art form and of remembering the classic games you played the entertainment of choice for millions in the while growing up, Video Games Live will truly 21st century.” be a night to remember. Meet and bond with —Tommy Tallarico 17 ABOUT THE ARTISTS Tommy Tallarico is a veritable video game Fran cisco Symphony; the Baltimore, Dallas, industry icon. As one of the most successful and Houston symphony orchestras; and the video game composers in history, he has Royal Scottish National Symphony Orchestra. helped revolutionize the gaming world, Fratianni was born and raised in the Swiss creating unique audio landscapes that enhance Alps, and his extensive background as both the video gaming experience. Tallarico is a classical and jazz musician affords him as considered the person most instrumental much ease leading a 120-piece orchestra as a in transforming video game music from jazz trio. He is a US and Italian citizen, fluent “bleeps and bloops” into fully realized in French, Italian, and—on rare occasions— music that is now appreciated worldwide Neapolitan (when overly excited!). by countless fans. As a well-recognized on-air Fratianni is an active guest lecturer television personality, live performer, show with both American and European music producer, creative director, game console institutions on the subjects of music direction president, sound designer, and composer, and con ducting. He resides in Santa Barbara, Tallarico brings his in-depth knowledge, with his wife, composer Laurie Robinson, and years of experience, and love of cutting-edge their eight-year-old son, Luciano. multimedia and pop culture to the masses. Tallarico has worked in the gaming Jason Paige is a true artist/Renaissance man, industry as a designer, product manager, whose voice, acting, writing, arrangement, and producer, writer, hardware executive, and production skills successfully span the creative game tester, and as head of both music and frontiers of music and theater, from pop to video departments. He produced, co-created, jazz, hip-hop to rock, soul to country, and wrote, and co-hosted three internationally more. His performances spontaneously com- award-winning syndicated and network tele- bine his vocal gymnastics, beat-boxing, and vision shows, as well as creating, producing, throat-singing into live recorded musical and hosting the continuing worldwide touring improvisations called “looping.” For the past sensation Video Games Live. Since 2010, 18 years, he has been most famously known Tallarico has become a highly sought after as the voice of the ever-present Pokémon live-show creative director and producer. theme song. Clients include Disney, MGM, Blizzard/ As a vocalist, Paige toured for a year Activision, Capcom, and artists such as as the lead singer for the legendary band Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin, and EDM artist Blood, Sweat & Tears. He shared the stage BT. In 2018, Tallarico was named president of with Michael Jackson as the rap soloist for the legacy video game company Intellivision the hit song “Black or White” in Jackson’s Entertainment, where he has helped launch a 30th anniversary concert at Madison Square brand-new home video game system. Garden (aired on CBS). He can also be heard on Foreigner’s “Can’t Slow Down,” Meatloaf’s Emmanuel Fratianni has delighted and “Bat Outta Hell 3,” The Scorpions’ “Hour 1,” engaged American and international audi- Frankie Valli’s “Romancing the 60’s,” and on ences since 2009, leading over 70 orchestras the “Art of McCartney” tribute CD, behind to date. He is embraced by musicians and Billy Joel, Roger Daltrey, Kiss, and Smokey audiences alike as a prodigious conductor of Robinson, among others. Paige has sung and classical, multimedia, film, and pops/crossover beat-boxed with Aerosmith on tour and on the symphonic programs. Howard Stern re-mix of the hit single “Pink,” Praised for his expert musical leadership, and has performed with Enrique Iglesias on Fratianni has led ensembles including the San tour, television, and the CD 7. 18 PLAYBILL ABOUT THE ARTISTS The UC Berkeley Symphony Orchestra is top new-music ensembles, including Alarm one of the premier university ensembles in the Will Sound, the International Contemporary nation; now in its 22nd season under music Ensemble, and Yarn/Wire. Included in the director David Milnes, the orchestra has solidi- orchestra’s membership are highly trained fied its reputation as a major force among Bay musicians who are also history and English Area cultural institutions. Established in 1923, majors, physicists, engineers, and computer the UCBSO season consists of 15–18 concerts scientists who go on to top careers in their covering the full repertory, from the Baroque professions. The UCBSO’s remarkably high to the present, with a special emphasis on musical standards have been further bolstered music since the 20th century. The orchestra is in recent years through its collaborations with a proven training ground for future generations Cal Performances, which have led to appear- of musicians, composers, and scholars; its ances by Riccardo Muti, Valery Gergiev, Marin members have gone on to receive graduate Alsop, Esa-Pekka Salonen, and Gustavo Duda- degrees at such conservatories as the Juilliard mel conducting the UCBSO in master classes School and the Eastman School of Music, and rehearsals. Musicians of the orchestra are and have subsequently performed with such also coached by members of the San Francisco acclaimed orchestras as the Concertgebouw Symphony and Opera orchestras, as well as by in Amsterdam and the National Symphony