JACKSONVILLE, Fla — To celebrate its 10th anniversary, fans of the critically acclaimed video game, “The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt,” can watch the music be performed by a live orchestra at the Florida Theatre on October 9 for “The Witcher In Concert.” The concert will combine visuals of the 2015 Game of the Year winner with live music. Award-winning music director, composer, and conductor Heidi Joosten sat down with WOKV’s Chase Bunker on taking on the beloved franchise, her history with video games, and what a conductor does.
“The idea of live-to-picture, these types of events are my favorite type of events to do, because they are high-risk, high-reward. You understand that you have to do well by the fans, you have to do well by the audience and also set it up so that it is a whole new experience of being able to hear it live,” says Joosten on taking on the music of the popular role-playing game. “We are tasked with the opportunity of making it sound as epic on stage with live players, as if you were playing the game. So it’s my favorite kind of work to do. We know the task ahead of us, it is a daunting one but it’s not like overwhelming to a point where we get scared, it’s an excitement.”
Joosten says she has not played Witcher 3 but it isn’t for a lack of trying. “I’ve been playing the piano since I was like early 4 years old, and that type of console works great under my fingers. Any type of video game console does not work with my fingers. Like I struggled with Animal Crossing, because my body does not function when it comes to video games. But my whole life has been absolutely fascinated with both video games, film music, etc. Like I used to clean my apartment in college to ‘Skyrim,’[...]I love the music from this game, but it hasn’t been one where I have like sat down to play the game just because my hands and my brain do not compute. I am always in awe of people that can play video games, I’m one of those people who cannot.”
Heidi tells us about her life in a family of conductors, what a conductor does, and the game she would want to conduct for a live-to-picture event in the full interview. Tickets for “The Witcher 3 In Concert” are on sale now.
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