Peter The Great Music Festival

07-14-2010

The Peter the Great Festival is a classical music festival with over forty concerts in the North of Holland from July 28-August 7 2010. This year Artistic Supervisor and eminent pianist Rian de Waal has graciously invited Andy to join the Dante String Quartet, Hans van Heiningen (baritone), and Monique Krüs (soprano) to present a festival concert on August 1st. Included in the program will be brand new string quartet arrangements of various pieces Andy has written or orchestrated for films and interactive games.


According to the festival website: "With the rise of the new media in the 20th century, movies and computer games, a large industry of movie and computer game music has erupted. Composer Andy Brick will give an interactive, musical experience."

The concerts are being combined with lectures, diners, walking-tours, musea visits etc. An important part of the festival consists of the Summer Academy for young, talented singers, pianists, organ players, double bass players and string instrumentalists. If you happen to be in the area, please come check out the entire festival!

You can learn more about the Peter de Grote Festival here: http://www.peterdegrotefestival.nl/en/
And see concert venue and ticketing information here: Concert Info

Andy Brick to conduct The Vancouver Symphony

06-01-2010

Venue: Orpheum Theatre Vancouver, Canada
Date: Monday December 06, 2010 8 PM
Featuring: Andy Brick, guest conductor

Performed by the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and a full choir, PLAY! A Video Game Symphony features award-winning music from a catalogue of blockbuster video game titles, including Halo, Metal Gear Solid, Super Mario Bros., Final Fantasy, The Legend of Zelda, and many more. Stunning graphics on large screens above the orchestra accompany the exciting scores, highlighting memorable moments from the video games.

Founded in 1919, The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra's mission is to enrich the quality of life in and bring prestige to their city, province and country through the presentation of high-quality performances of classical and popular music, and the delivery of excellent education and community programs.

Andy Brick Scores "Dilla"

05-10-2010

Be on the look out for the animated short "Dilla"

Created by Dominic Pallotta, Stan Moore, Michael Klim and Michael Sauls, 4 young animators now interning at Pixar and Moonbot Studios I was very happy to be asked to contribute the musical score and record it with the Filmharmonic of Prague.

In the words of the animators: "Its everything we could have imagined, couldn't have been more perfect!!  It captured the playfulness we had always wanted and gives so much personality to each character....  The score brought tears to our eyes and smiles to our faces.  We were laughing, and cheering, and banging on the walls with excitement."

Eugene Symphony Receives "Thunderous Ovations" Under the Baton of Andy Brick

04-29-2010

Under the direction of Andy Brick, the Eugene Symphony of Eugene Oregon last weekend performed PLAY! A Video Game Symphony to "Thunderous Ovations"
Andrew Creasey of the Oregon Music News reports from the concert:

"Andy Brick introduced each video game and their composers to thunderous ovations generally reserved for rock stars. The Eugene Symphony clearly enjoyed the fanatical reception. Smiles of astonishment and amazement flashed between players, who were more used to the polite, withheld applause of the conventional orchestra audience. At the head of this cacophonous reception was Brick, who encouraged the crowd from the start to cheer and holler at any time they felt the urge. The show closed with dense, swelling orchestrations from the popular World of Warcraft. As it rose to its climatic conclusion, the crowd leapt to their feet cheering for more. Andy Brick emerged again to acquiesce the encore demands and announced, to perhaps the largest cheer of the night, a song from the hit role-playing game Final Fantasy VII."

You can learn more about PLAY! A Video Game Symphony here.

Andy Brick Appointed Principal Conductor of PLAY! A Video Game Symphony

03-11-2010

Andy Brick is happy to announce that he has been appointed Principal Conductor and Music Director of PLAY! A Video Game Symphony.

This exciting world-tour features the legendary symphonic music of the most coveted blockbuster video games of our time. The music is performed by preeminent , world-class orchestras and choirs at celebrated venues throughout the world. Towering video screens present unforgettable graphics and video clips recounting the most memorable moments of these acclaimed games. Whether a seasoned gamer or curious concert goer, PLAY! is sure to elicit an exciting adoration, enjoyment and appreciation for a new generation of orchestral music.

You can learn more about PLAY! A Video Game Symphony here.

Mafia II Recorded for 2K Games

11-11-2009

I am happy to announce the completion of orchestration and recording of the soundtrack for Mafia II. Many thanks to Producer Martin Zavrel, and composers Matus Siroky and Adam Kuruc for giving me the opportunity to supervise the orchestrations and conduct the recording sessions for 2K Games. A very nice blog post describes the atomsphere:

"From the very first minute the musicians of the FILMharmonic Orchestra Prague sat down and started playing, we quickly discovered two things: first, the orchestra is amazingly talented and great at what they do, when they nailed the very first cue on the first run-through without rehearsing; and secondly, the color, depth and tone of live instruments performing is something completely above and beyond any electronically sampled music libraries. Yes, we admit that both Matus and I were moved to tears by how beautiful it is." - http://www.mafia2game.com/community/us/features_orchestra.php

Andy Brick Composes The Peacock

9-10-2009

If you drop by the Audio page, you will see I have posted a new mp3 called The Peacock. Every now and then I need to remind myself that composing and orchestrating are not always programatic ;-) This concert piece I wrote over the course of 8 weeks late last year but a very busy schedule prevented me from creating a midi rendition. With the conclusion of the North Carolina Symphony concert, I finally got a chance to sit down and do a proper mockup. I must say I am very happy with the piece. Please take a listen if you can.

Review: The North Carolina Symphony Concert: "Your audience was Mesmerized!"

07-21-2009

We had a great concert last week. Many thanks to Jason Michael Paul, the production team for PLAY! and the North Carolina Symphony, Carlos Alomar on guitar and Warhammer Composer and percussionist Brad Derrick. You were all spectacular. Another big thanks to Robin at Reno Management who did a knock out job with the media. We received a glowing review from WCPE The classical station in North Carolina:

"A GREAT time was had by all at Summerfest last weekend! Andy Brick WOWed us all with his Play! Symphony. The audience was extremely mixed. My friend remarked, "I've never seen so many Pantera shirts at the Symphony before." Aside from the stunning and beautiful music, what amazed me was that when the sky broke open (as it often does in North Carolina summertime), the audience just sat there. Some people popped up umbrellas, but it was about 50/50! Well done, Andy Brick! Your audience was mesmerized!
Did I mention we got to hear Carlos Alomar play guitar?!" - Deana Vassar http://theclassicalstation.org

Andy Brick Composes for Schoolhouse Rock! Earth: Walt Disney Studios

03-29-2009

I am happy to announce the release of Schoolhouse Rock! Earth. The original episodes were a huge part of my childhood and it is with great gratitude and my most warm appreciation that I extended my heartfelt thanks to Executive Produce George Newall and Music Director Bob Dorough for giving me the opportunity to participate in these new episodes with my song FatCat Blue:The Clean Rivers Song.

DISNEY PRESENTS ABC'S Schoolhouse Rock! Earth

Burbank, Calif., December 8, 2008—Kids across America will be rockin' out while learning about the environment when Schoolhouse Rock! Earth comes to DVD on March 31, 2009. Schoolhouse Rock educated a generation of kids about grammar, math, science, economics and history, winning four Emmy® Awards in the process. Now, the creators of the original series have created all-new songs for today's kids. Schoolhouse Rock! Earth introduces lots of new fun characters and also brings back several iconic characters including Interplanet Janet and Mr. Morton for a 21st Century take on the classic Saturday morning TV series. Perfectly timed for Earth Day (April 22) 2009, the DVD features eleven original songs and contemporary animation.

Andy Brick to conduct The North Carolina Symphony

03-01-2009

2009 Summerfest Series: Play! A Video Game Symphony
Date: July 11, 2009
Featuring: Andy Brick, guest conductor
Concert Singers of Cary

Featuring award-winning music from a catalogue of blockbuster video game titles, and outstanding graphics projected on large screens above the orchestra accompany the scores, this program highlights memorable moments from the world’s most popular video games. In partnership with the Town of Cary.

Verse of Fortune Musical "Freedom and Flight " & "Under the Stars" orchestrated by Andy Brick

02-01-2009

Congrats to Christian Holder and Noa Ain for a wonderful piece of musical theatre and a very big thank you for allowing me the pleasure of orchestrating for this great collaboration. Verse of fortune is a universal story of the plight of The Artist and his quest to produce and create in the face of adversity, Verse of Fortune focuses on aspects of the life and work of French symbolist poet, Charles Baudelaire. Spanning the years from 1844, when he was a spendthrift bon vivant and chivalrous Dandy, to 1867, the year of his death when he had become dissipated and defeated by illness and chronic debt, the libretto focuses on his twenty-year relationship with his muse, Jeanne Duval. She is a woman of color from Haiti, and theirs is a tempestuous union fraught with passion, love and hostility. Still, Charles remains in love with, and inspired by, Jeanne to the end.

You can learn more about the show and see video and listen to audio clips at www.verseoffortune.com

Andy Brick Retrospective DVD Released and Available

11-04-2008

Have you ever stopped and taken a good long look at your life? I just had the incredible experience of sifting through hours of music and video of the various projects for which I have composed, orchestrated and conducted over the past years and am happy to announce the release of my retrospective DVD. What a journey! I listened to almost everything from my very first CD with Warner Bros (entitled the Global Songbook) , my professional conducting debut in Hollywood, and my first Game score for Shadoan to my most recent work composing and orchestrating music for Sinbad, Warhammer: Age of Reckoning, Stranglehold, Schoolhouse Rock and the various concerts I have conducted over the years. The result is a reallly nice DVD. If you would like a copy of the DVD, feel free to email me here

Warhammer Age of Reckoning RELEASED!

11-01-2008

Warhammer has been released and the early reviews are in:

"Dramatic music and deep environmental audio is the core of Warhammer Online’s audio library. Every location, dungeon, battlefield and town has a strong feel to it, which is driven by what you see and hear and if the audio was not as strong as it is, the overall game would not be the game of grand adventures which Warhammer is known for. Even listening to the music at the server select or character selection screen has this range of hope and balance to dark and chaotic battle chords. Audio wise Mythic has done a fantastic job on Warhammer." Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning revolves around the continual worldwide conflict that the Warhammer Fantasy setting is known for. For this title I orchestrated a terrific soundtrack by Mythics Brad Derrick, wrote some hard-core contemporty music cues, and conducted the Filmharmonic of Prague.

Congrats to Brad Derrick, Muisc Director, composer, sound guru and the rest of the EA/Mythic Team on this great success! It was a great pleasure to contribute to this epic soundtrack!

More details at the Warhammer Online official website

In Your Heart

06-20-2008

I've been doing great sessions for a song called "In Your Heart". The song is by Lyricist and overall renaissance man Christian Holder and composer Noa Ain with arrangements by yours truly. The song will be packed up and sent off to Christians long time friend and musical wonderwoman Tina Turner.

We had some great performances:

Vocalist Carol Woods (Broadway's Chicago, Follies and the Full Monte) came in to do a take-no-prisoners killer vocal. What a pro -- ready to deliver and completely accommodating -- she was totally prepared and ready to go! Saxophonist "Sweet" Sue Terry came in for some sax work. It was a pleasure to work with her. There was some specific parts that I had written for her but i also wanted to just turn on the mic and let her do her thing so we just turned on the song, put her track in record and she proceeded to negotiate some sophisticated chord changes like some shaman, guru-like intuit -- no chart in front of her (!). She's a monster. As always, my dear friend and compatriot Reed Robins was behind the board making everything sound terrific as well as turning on the groove with some killer guitar tracks.

Screen captures from the talkback video feed (video link between control room and booth) are here

The Baltimore Symphony performs PLAY! under the baton of Andy Brick

04-24-2008

I am very pleased to announce that on Friday, July 18th 2008 I will be conducting PLAY! with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra at the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall.

The PLAY! concert tour is a production by Jason Michael Paul Productions Inc., the team behind the Dear Friends -Music from Final Fantasy- symphony tour. Grammy award winner Maestro Arnie Roth, Music Director and Principal Conductor of the Chicagoland Pops, serves as Principal Conductor and Music Director for PLAY!. Andy Brick, known for conducting the Symphonic Game Music Concerts serves as the Associate Conductor.

Tickets to the PLAY! concert in Baltimore are available online at www.bsomusic.org or by calling The Baltimore Symphony's Box Office at 1-877-BSO-1444 or in person at the Box Office located at 1212 Cathedral Street Baltimore, Md 21201.

On the heels of a 5 year tenure with the Symphonic Game Music Concerts, the Czech National Symphony and the Filmharmonic Orchestra of Prague, Mr. Brick will take the podium presenting PLAY! A Video Game Symphony (http://www.play-symphony.com)

Andy Brick appointed Associate Professor and Director of Music & Technology

01-16-2008

My activities as professor of music at Stevens Institute continues to flourish. I am very happy to announce that I have accepted the appointment of Industry Associate Professor and Director of the Music & Technology Program. I very much look forward to guiding the minds of tomorrows professional musicians!

Andy Brick Orchestrates Halo for the Seattle Symphony

12-01-2007

Andy Brick is pleased to announce the completion of work on his concert orchestration of music from the blockbuster video game series Halo 1,2 and 3. Prof. Brick worked with famed Halo composer Marty O'Donnell to create this dynamic score. The score, which included professor Brick's premier orchestration of music from Halo 3 received its debut performances with the Fort Worth and Seattle Symphonies.

From Wikipedia...

"[Halo] has been praised as being among the best and most influential first-person shooters on a game console, with Halo being the Microsoft Xbox's "killer app". This has led to the term "Halo killer" being used to describe console games that aspire to be better than Halo. Halo's sequel, Halo 2, broke sales records for a media release, and Halo 3 sold more than US $170 million worth of copies in the first 24 hours of release, breaking the record of Halo 2. As of October 4, 2007, all three Halo games combined have sold more than 20 million copies. The franchise has expanded to include five novels, several graphic novels, and numerous other licensed products, from action figures to Mountain Dew. The cultural impact of the Halo series has been compared to that of the Star Wars franchise, with those who enjoy the series being dubbed the "Halo Nation".

5th Symphonic Game Music Concert Receives Standing Ovation and Accolades!

09-01-2007

I'm again back from Europe and am delighted to announce that we had a terrific Symphonic Game Music Concert. I was very happy to read the reviews that "The Filmharmonic Orchestra conducted by Andy Brick had so many first class arrangements that the concert became the longest in the series. After the first part of the concert I already through it was the best video game music concert in Leipzig ever. However, the second half was even better! ..... Andy Brick shows great skill and is like a dream for Orchestra musicians" As always, many thanks to Thomas Boecker!

Wonderpets: Ollie Orchestrated and Conducted

05-01-2007

I am again delighted to announce my participation in the creation of the score for the animated TV show The Wonderpets For my second go with this great production team, I orchestrated and conducted an episode called Ollie. Stay tuned for more news including my first episode as composer, conductor and orchestrator coming in June. You can learn more about the Wonder Pets here.

Symphonic Game Music Concert 2007 confirmed

03-01-2007

The Fifth Symphonic Game Music Concert has been confirmed and ticket sales have started. The event will take place at the famous Gewandhaus concert hall in Leipzig, Germany. Conducted by Maestro Andy Brick, the FILMharmonic Orchestra Prague and Choir will perform music from various popular video games. Titles from games such as StarCraft, Final Fantasy XI, Ragnarok 2, Stranglehold, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, Secret of Mana, The Abbey and Turrican 2 will be presented. The concert will also feature two medleys of music from Commodore 64- and Amiga-classics.

Tickets are available at Ticketonline.de. The concert is scheduled for August 22, 2007. More details at http://www.vgmconcerts.com

Wonder Pets Meet The Beetles

03-01-2007

I am delighted to announce my participation in the creation of the score for the animated TV show The Wonderpets For my first gowith this great production team, I orchestrated and conducted an episode called Save the Beetle. In this episode, Linny, Tuck and Ming Ming travel to Liverpool to save a band of Beetles (no... not Beatles) Stay tuned for more news including my first episode as composer, conductor and orchestrator coming in June. You can learn more about the Wonder Pets here.

Andy Brick composes for Sinbad

01-01-2007

Im happy to announce completion of work on Sinbad for Walt Disney. Based on the story "The Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor" from "The Book of One Thousand and One Nights", follow as Sindbad experiences life-risking adventures, deadly enemies and dangerous lands. For this project I had the amazing honor of working with one of my oldest friends in the music world, Martin Erskine. Between the two of us we wrote 65 minutes of swashbuckling orchestral music. We then headed off to Prague to record with the Filmharmonic Orchestra!

The Carpentier Quartet at the Cutting Room

10-01-2006

Coming this winter, I will be honored to have one of my compositions played at the infamous Cutting Room in Manhattan with the famous Carpentier Quartet. If you havent heard of these guys, please go take a look at their website. They bring a really great fresh perspective to the genre. I havent yet decided if I will compose something new or do a piece from my repetoire. I may pull out a very old and very classical piano quintet I wrote some years back and head up on stage and play with the band! Stay tuned for more info. Thanks to Bill Rhoads of Subito Music for putting this together and inviting me to contribute.

Andy Brick Orchestrates Mutiny On The Bounty for MGM / Disney

09-13-2006

I am very happy to announce that I have been contracted to re-orchestrate this classic swashbuckler for MGM / Disney for their CD collection entitled Hollywood's Greatest Hits. Based on the then-popular novel by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall, and starring Clark Gable and Charles Laughton, the 1935 MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY is among a series of legendary films of the 1930s that have been repeatedly celebrated for cinematic achievement. Look for the soundtrack CD coming soon. Thanks again to my friends at Treehouse studios for thinking of me on this one.

Andy Brick Featured on CBS National Evening News

09-13-2006

From the CBS Evening News Website: (CBS) It might be the last place you'd think, but video games are the new haven for concert music. As CBS News correspondent Richard Schlesinger reports, video games are becoming a new medium for exposing kids to a musical genre they might not otherwise experience. Andy Brick is an award-winning composer, influenced by the classics, who is now writing and orchestrating music for video game players. He is exposing millions of young people to symphonic-style music that they probably would never listen to any other way. He takes his inspiration from mythical scenes given to him by video game developers. NEW: If you missed the news segment live, you can now see the segment on line by visiting my "movies" page and clicking on CBS Evening News Feature

Fourth Symphonic Game Music Concert SOLD OUT

06-13-2006

For the fourth year in a row, the Symphonic Game Music Concerts has sold out. This time all the tickets were scooped up in just two weeks. These concerts in Germany are so special to me. This is where it all started back in 2003 and I am truly honored and humbled by the incredible support and enthusiasm of the German people, the Leipzig Messe, and Executive Producer Thomas Boecker

Fourth Symphonic Game Music Concert Announced

06-01-2006

On August 23, 2006 I will return to the famous Gewandhaus zu Leipzig in Germany to conduct the 4th encore performance of Symphonic Game Music Concert. For the first time ever, this concert will include a full choir! This should be a really special show as we will be performing music from Final Fantasy VI and VII, Castlevania, Turrican 3, Zelda, Sonic the Hedgehog and many other classics. The event is organized by Merregnon's Executive Producer Thomas Boecker. Of course, the wonderful FILMharmonic Orchestra has been chosen for the performance. Once again I will be contributing as conductor and music director and the show will open with a special fanfare I composed just for these concerts. Check out this news page and the Merregnon.com site for upcoming news about this exciting event. You can learn more about the concert and see pictures and read about previous concerts by visiting www.vgmconcerts.com

Nintendo Chamber Music Concert

05-07-2006

On June 1st, 2006 Nintendo will be hosting a chamber music concert featuring string quartet music of many of their most famous titles. It was great fun to get back to my roots and redo these pieces for a chamber ensemble! Included in the concert will be a quasi violin concerto for string quartet which I wrote based on an adaptation of a theme from one of their greatly loved games. Many thanks to Thomas Boecker, producer of the concert for thinking of me.

Andy Brick Appointed Associate Conductor of PLAY! A Video Game Symphony

03-20-2006

Performed by full orchestra and choir, PLAY! will feature award-winning music from a catalogue of blockbuster video game titles. Outstanding graphics on large screens above the orchestra will accompany the scores, highlighting memorable moments from the video games.  PLAY! features around 20 of the greatest symphonic game music titles every recorded.  Following the tradition of Dear Friends-Music from FINAL FANTASY and the European Symphonic Game Music Concerts, PLAY! highlights all the memorable moments of the games, showcasing orchestral and solo performances.  For more information be sure to check out http://www.play-symphony.com/

"Heros of Imagination" Concert Series

01-20-2006

Entitled "Heroes of Imagination", Andy has been asked to music direct, orchestrate and compose some new music for four concerts featuring video game music to be held in Germany in January 2006. Titles such as Super Mario Bros., Final Fantasy and Sonic The Hedgehog will be performed by the Neue Elbland Philharmonie.

The concerts are supported by the publishers Nintendo, Square-Enix and SEGA. The official media partner of the concert series is the German online magazine 4Players.de.

Andy Brick appointed Adjunct Professor of Orchestration

11-26-2005

I am very happy to announce that I will be Adjunct Professor of Orchestration at Stevens Institute. This small boutique university is starting an exciting new music department under the direction of David Musial. David has some amazing plans for the program. It has been a long time desire of mine to give back to the industry at the university level and I am so looking forward to passing my experiences with live orchestra to the next generation!

Into the Lion's Den

10-21-2005

Another small contribution for my friend Richard Fiocca and Treehouse Audio. Thanks Richard (lead composer on this project) for the opportunity to write for live orchestra for Discovery Channel's Feature Presentation: Into The Lions Den. Protected only by a stick with a miniature camera, zoologist and big cat trainer Dave Salmoni is on a mission to prove that humans can live in harmony with wild lions. He is pioneering a new research project that has never been attempted before — removing the barrier between man and beast by walking on a pride of lions to observe, learn the language and gain social acceptance. INTO THE LION'S DEN brings viewers to the edge of human-animal interaction on Sunday, Dec. 4, at 10 p.m. ET/PT.

3rd Symphonic Game Music Concert Receives Standing Ovation!

8-24-2005

I'm just back from Europe and am delighted to announce that we had a terrific Symphonic Game Music Concert. I was very happy to read that Uwe Bassendowski, Managing Director Sony computer Entertainment stated "The opening concert in the Gewandhaus was inconceivably beautiful " and in the words of Gamevision.de.. "Once again Maestro Andy Brick led the FILMharmonic Orchestra of Prague and treated the audience to a multicolored evening, filled with a look at the world of the game music. I personally was more than inspired by the concert this year. Again the concert producers created a brilliant program thereby giving us an unforgettable evening again. Its clear that one can rate this year as the best to date. In short: A further unforgettable evening in the Gewandhaus in Leipzig – the waiting period until next year will once again pass with difficulty"

Preparations for the 3nd Symphonic Game Music Concert

7-6-2005

Well, Its that time of the year again and I have just started the process of reviewing scores for this years Symphonic Game Music Concert. I'm very excited this year to be doing classic title themes from Donkey Kong, and International Karate as well as current blockbuster titles like Lord of The Rings and Spellforce 2. To learn more about this year's concert and see the entire program, please visit VGMConcerts.com

Midway Announces Stranglehold with Music by Andy Brick

06-10-2005

Midway games has just announced their upcoming title Stranglehold. I am happy to announce that earlier this spring I composed, orchestrated and recorded music I wrote for this title with the Moravian Philharmonic with overdubs by multi-ethnic woodwind virtuoso Dave Weiss of Lion King fame.

Masterworks of the New Era Competition

5-01-2005

I am delighted to announce that my concert composition "Hungarian Overture" has been selected as winner of the "Masterworks of the New Era" competition. According to the competition organizers, "The sheer quality of the submissions were, simply, staggering. Over 400 works were submitted. We think your Hungarian Overture will fantastically showcase the rich compositional talents of 'Masterworks of the New Era' " A live recording will take place this July with the Kiev Philharmonic and will appear on the 8th edition of "Masterworks of the New Era" series. The CD will be distributed world wide. If previous editions are any indication, I should expect to hear the piece on classical radio stations throughout the country! To learn more about these great series check out http://numusic.org/

Symphonic Game Music Concert Announced

4-26-2005

After the great success of the first historic Game Music Concert in 2003 and the encore performance in 2004, I am happy to announce a third concert will be held on August 17, 2005 in Leipzig, Germany. Again, the concert will be held as the official opening ceremony of Europe's biggest fair for video games, the GC - Games Convention. The event is organized by Merregnon's Executive Producer Thomas Boecker. This year the FILMharmonic Orchestra has been chosen for the performance. Once again I will be contributing as conductor and music director. Check out this news page and the Merregnon.com site for upcoming news about this exciting event. You can learn more about the concert and see pictures and read about previous concerts by visiting www.vgmconcerts.com

Garritan Personal Orchestra Commission and the GPO Competition

03-10-2005

My good friend Garry Garritan, famed creator of the Garritan Orchestral String Library, has asked me to write a piece demonstrating his new library The Garritan Personal Orchestra. For everyone from new-comers and hobbyists to busy professionals, I highly recommend this library. It's fast, easy to use and sounds pretty impressive. The piece I wrote on this project, called Gygrans Song, uses nothing but this library. Look for it on the Garritan Personal Orchestra pages.

Inspired by the incredible pieces that people have been able to realize with this library, Gary Garritan decided to host a nationwide orchestral composition competition. Gary asked me and some other great professionals to judge the competition and then asked that I also music direct the live concert that is to be presented early this spring. You can learn more about the competition and this great library at http://www.garritan.com/

2nd Symphonic Game Music Concert is "an evening of complete perfection"

9-04-2004

Europe's second Symphonic Game Music Concert, which kicked off the GC Games Convention this year, has received a great deal of praise and enthusiasm from audience members and the media once again. Press from all over the world attended the event, radio and TV stations such as MDR,ARD and RTL; newspapers such as Die Zeit, Leipziger Volkszeitung andLibération; and magazines such as Famitsu, Telepolis and IGN.com were all represented. Around 60 minutes of the finest video game music was performed, including songs from Final Fantasy, Metal Gear Solid and Turrican. The conductor, Andy Brick and the FILMharmonic Orchestra were celebrated afterwards with 15 minutes of standing-ovations. But of course the applause was also meant for the fabulous composers of the music, like Nobuo Uematsu, Yuzo Koshiro, Chris Huelsbeck, Fabian Del Priore, Markus Holler and Richard Jacques.

The sold-out Gewandhaus was "trembling" amid the audience's fervent response when these superstars came on stage after the performance of the "excellent" music, as the newspaper Leipziger Volkszeitung wrote. The online magazineGameSurf called it a "fulminant concert", and a "real insider's tip to wallow in nostalgia and to duly herald the trading fair". Krawall.net commended the "continuous high quality" of the orchestra and called attendance a must for video game fans. Macinplay shared their enthusiasm and complimented the "atmospheric, virtuous and grandios" FILMharmonic Orchestra.

The German magazine DemoNews even published a feature article about the concert in which the authors expressed their "overhelmed feelings" due to the "variation and the vast professionalism". They went on to say: "The concert definitely is worth attending. If you did not come this year, you were missing something. Do not miss this chance again!" They described it as, "an evening of completed perfection". The American IGN.com agreed: "The varied mix and reliable performances signal(ed) a great start for yet another successful gaming convention in Leipzig". The German website Adventure-Treff hopes for upcoming concerts of this kind at the Games Convention, and sent thanks to the organisers: "Especially at this moment it becomes obvious that video games are more than cheap and short entertainment, but also have an artistic value". The Czech magazine Level underlined the previous comments by saying that "The magic of game music played by an orchestra made every heart in the Gewandhaus race. Ovations, crazy smiles and undeniable emotions were exploding throughout the entire audience."

The following experience by journalist Matthias Oborski was published in an article by the German newspaper Die Zeit: "Tears are running over the cheeks of the pudgy nerd with glasses next to me as the sounds of Turrican fill the room for the finale. Maybe for the first time in his life his hobby, his passion, his childhood, his heart's blood, his life is taken seriously and presented in a socially accepted scope". Matthias finishes his thoughts on his website saying: "I very much envy him at this moment. He is the first who stands up after the last tone and he claps louder than all the others. Standing ovations. The composers, heroes of my generation, come on stage. A second later I also stand up. Momentous.

{quoted from www.merregnon.com}

Feature interview with Andy Brick on Studio 360 will air nationally on all PRI affiliates

8-7-2004

Reporter Allison Dean speaks with Andy about life as a composer and conductor for this highly regarded national radio broadcast. You can find air dates in your city by visiting studio360.org.

Merregnon 2 FINISHED

5-06-2004

After more than three years of development, the Merregnon 2 project is finished! The album is due to be released on 05 / 24 / 04 in Germany. You can pre - order your CD at shops like Amazon.de, Buch.de or Rollenspiel-Shop right away, or purchase your CD at your local shop. If you live in the United States or outside of Germany please refer to Music by Design. and SynSonic Records.

It has been quite a journey for us, and I want to thank all of the people who are interested in our CD and have supported us with kind and helpful feedback throughout its development. We are very proud of what we have achieved, combining live orchestra music, performed by an international cast of musicians; nine composers from all over the world who provided us with their own fantastic music, 80 minutes of the finest pieces; and six artists who painted a beautiful 28 pages booklet, telling the story of Merregnon.

The work has been intense for everybody. The production required a lot of skill and ambition. Everybody in the team gave only the best, and I am so honored to have been a part of it.

Symphonic Game Music Concert Announced

3-16-2004

After the great success of Last year's first historic Game Music Concert, I am happy to announce a second concert will be held on August 18, 2004 in Leipzig, Germany. Again, the concert will be held as the official opening ceremony of Europe's biggest fair for video games, the GC - Games Convention. The event is organized by Merregnon's Executive Producer Thomas Boecker. This year the FILMharmonic Orchestra has been chosen for the performance. Once again I will be contributing as conductor, music director and contributing composer. Check out this news page and the Merregnon.com site for upcoming news about this exciting event.

Symphony Magazine

3-01-2004

Symphony Magazine, one of the leading publications for orchestral music has published an article about Orchestral Game Music! The article speaks of the emergence of orchestral game music as "one of the fastest-growing influences on video games" It is a great pleasure to see such a respected publication dedicate the "curtain" section of their magazine to our industry! You can take a look at the article by either finding the March-April 2004 issue of Symphony Magazine or by clicking here.

The BBC Radio

12-05-2003

Recently the BBC did an interview with me, Thomas, and Petr Pycha about the Leipzig Concert. It was a really great interview because it focused a lot on the philosophy behind the creation of the concert. In the interview, I got a chance to speak about the wonderful opportunity we had to bring a younger audience to the concert hall. Thomas tells us about his inspiration for the concert and Petr gives us some insight into the reaction of the members of the Czech National Symphony. If you would like to take a listen, click here.

The New York Times

11-09-2003

Today's Sunday edition of The New York Times features an article about me called "A Composer Gives Video Games A Musical Life" In the article, the reporter, Roberta Hershenson states "Mr. Brick, an award-winning composer with impeccable musical credentials is on the cusp of a surprising trend... as he played his compositions over the speakers the orchestra surged expansively evoking a comparison to Prokofiev!" Click here for a downloadable version of the article

Andy Brick ComposesThe Sims 2

10-28-2003

I have just put the final touches on the music I have written and orchestrated for the upcoming blockbuster game title The Sims 2. Since the live orchestral music for Sim City Rush hour was received with such high regards, the folks at Maxis/Electronic Arts decided to continue the adventure and add some orchestral music to this highly anticipated title. Since I had such a great experience recording the Bottom Line soundtrack with the Bratislava Symphony earlier this past summer, we decided to go with the full 70 piece symphony this time. Gotta go pack my bags. My plane leaves in 18 hours. A few days later...... So far so good! These cues are a bit longer than the average film cue so we are pacing ourselves at a rate of one cue per recording session. We are recording Sims 2 in Slovensky Rhozlas (Slovak Radio) on sound stage 2. The room sounds really great and our engineer John Pinkerly tells us it is a very good acoustic space. The really interesting thing about this studio is the architecture of building. Imagine an Egyptian Pyramid. Flip it upside-down so it stands on its point and that is what the Slovak Radio building looks like. Its rather amusing. Today we finished my first cue. It went very well and I got a nice little tap-tap-tap from the players on their stands (their way of showing that they liked the piece) At the end of the piece Jerry asked me if I could write some short 5-10 second stings on the spot. Since Jerry asked me to act as Music Director (what we call Score Reader here in the U.S.) I am not conducting on these sessions. So, with the orchestra on break for 20 minutes, I asked everyone to clear out of the control room and give me absolute silence. I then wrote 15 stings during the break. When all the players returned, I headed down to the sound stage with my score to explain to the conductor what I wanted. Our conductor, however, is Spanish and only speaks Slovak and Spanish. Luckily I can speak a decent amount of Spanish. The whole thing was a bit surreal. There I was in this upside-down pyramid with the Bratislava Symphony writing cues on the spot then explaining them to the conductor in spanish who then, in turn, translated my instructions into Slovak. Alas, somehow, everyone managed to understand what I wanted and the stings were recorded without any problems at all. Learn more about the Sims 2 by visiting Thesims2.ea.com

Billboard Magazine Article

9-06-2003

There are few magazines as important in the music industry as Billboard Magazine. It is my great pleasure to announce that Billboard Magazine has published an article today (Sept 06, 2003) entitled "Brick Brings Videogame Scores To Life With Orchestra" The article talks quite a bit about the process I go through when I bring a video game score to a live orchestra. Click here for a jpeg of the article or ask your local newsstand or library for the Sept 06, 2003 issue of Billboard Magazine.

Andy Brick Conducts Historic Symphonic Game Music Concert at the Gewandhaus

8-21-2003

It was simply Amazing! All the hard work and long hours of preparation all paid off! The concert was completely sold out. The orchestra sounded terrific and responded so well to my conducting. The audience really seemed to enjoy the show and honored me with a 10 minute standing ovation and 4 curtain calls! Wow what a high! After the concert I was hit with an immediate interview with the BBC then asked to meet the head of the GC. About an hour later I was shuttled off to a small gathering where I was met with additional applause and had the great honor of meeting Umatsu the legendary Final Fantasy composer. The real highlight of the post concert events had to be a short interlude when a young man approached me and asked for my autograph. He told me that he loved the concert and it was his first time ever seeing an orchestra play live. I asked how old he was and he responded that he was 15. In a world where symphony orchestras struggle to stay alive because they cant capture the hearts of the younger audiences, this was truly an wonderful experience.!. Click here to see a great acton shot of me conducting the Czech National Symphony

Composing the official Opening Fanfare for the GC 2003 Leipzig

8-01-2003

The production team for the GC Games Convention 2003 has asked me to compose the official opening Fanfare for the 2003 Games Convention in Leipzig Germany. I happy to announce that I have gladly accepted the opportunity to write the opening for an 84 piece symphony orchestra. The trick here is all about time. With 17 scores to prepare for the opening concert I have about 3 days to compose, orchestrate and do all the copy for the piece.... better get to work! Update: The piece is finished and sounds great! I have been told that ICN recording studio in Prague is going to record the Fanfare when I conduct it during our rehearsals for the concert. As ICN is the premier recording studio in Prague I am looking forward to getting an excellent recording of the piece. Look for an MP3 on the Audio page this fall. For anyone interested in taking a look at the written score, just visit the Scores page and you can download a pdf file of the score that you can study and print out on any computer..

Sim City "Rush Hour" recorded with Moravian Philharmonic

7-13-2003

Phew, just 12 days after returning from my recordings in Slovakia with the Bratislava Symphony and my side trip to Vienna to check out the Vienna Symphonic Library, I have just arrived in Olomouc (pronounced Ohlowmotz) Czech Republic to record the music for Sim City Rush Hour with the Moravian Philharmonic. For this recording session we are going to be using a very very large 80-piece orchestra! These past two weeks have really been something. As soon as I got on the plane from Vienna to New York, I pulled out the portable studio I have built and got back to work on Sim City. If it weren’t for my wife, sister-in-law and cousins forcing me to take a Pina Colada break on July 4th, I would have missed all the fun and fireworks! I arrived in Prague early this morning. I met Jerry Martin, Audio Director of Maxis at his hotel in Prague and after a quick lunch with my friend Petr Pycha of the Prague Symphony I hopped on the train and made the 3 hour voyage to Olomouc. Im really looking forward to hearing both Jerry’s music and mine come alive! You can learn more about Sim City "Rush Hour" by .visiting the EA Sim City Rush Hour website.

Bottom Line recorded with Bratislava Symphony

6-24-2003

I just returned from Slovakia this week where I recorded the live orchestra soundtrack for Bottom Line with the Bratislava Symphony Orchestra. The recording sessions were a tremendous success. I managed to schedule a free day before my return to New York so I got a chance to explore this wonderful little capital city. Check out the Photo Gallery to see pictures of the recording session and Bratislava. Stay tuned for some audio clips from that recording session available on the Audio page soon. Special thanks to my assistant Aaron Sapp who really buckled down in the final days helping me with all the details.