High score Winnipeg Video Game Orchestra goes from joysticks to drumsticks, with classical takes on familiar themes By: Eva Wasney Posted: 4:57 PM CST Monday, Nov. 10, 2025

There is, evidently, a lot of crossover between band nerds and video game enthusiasts.

The Winnipeg Video Game Orchestra has levelled up at an impressive pace, attracting about 70 like-minded players since forming earlier this spring.

The ensemble is set to perform its first major concert at Jubilee Place on Friday featuring background music from Sonic the Hedgehog, Kirby, The Legend of Zelda and other well-known games.

“We grew very, very quickly,” says director Dann Bjornson, who isn’t entirely surprised by the overwhelming local interest.

Video game symphonies have been gaining popularity globally in recent years, as classically trained musicians look for ways to connect with new audiences.

For listeners and musical gamers alike, interactivity is a big part of the genre’s appeal.

“When you’re watching a movie and you hear the soundtrack, you’re experiencing somebody else’s story. But when you’re playing through a video game and hearing the music, it’s your story too,” says Bjornson, a University of Manitoba school of music grad and substitute music teacher.

“It connects in the brain in a different way. There’s a big nostalgia factor, too.”

Bjornson, who grew up playing trombone and Super Mario, had dreamed of starting a community video game band for years, but repertoire was always hard to find. That’s begun to change thanks to groups such as Montreal’s Orchestre de Jeux Vidéo, which has developed symphonic sheet music for hundreds of popular video game titles across dozens of consoles.

On Saturday afternoon, a tinkling, high-energy theme song from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time wafts out of a classroom in the U of M’s Faculty of Music building, where the Winnipeg Video Game Orchestra is rehearsing.

It’s a composition that transports Dylan Downey into the Nintendo game, which follows the protagonist, Link, as he solves puzzles and battles hostile creatures to save Princess Zelda.

“The Zelda series has always had such iconic music with lots of jazz elements and classical elements,” says the euphonium player.

“There are definitely points where I’m playing and I’m imagining myself being there in the dungeons and roaming the open world.”

The Winnipeg Video Game Orchestra is a multigenerational blend of woodwind, brass and percussion players, many of whom have formal music training.

Downey, a U of M music student and aspiring music teacher, enjoys the intersectional camaraderie of the group and its equally eclectic audience.

“You have people that are diehard classical fans that don’t really play video games and you have people who are diehard video game fans that don’t really listen to a lot of classical music. It’s a wonderful blend of both those worlds,” he says.

Sherry Aubin, a longtime gamer and self-described band geek, has been a member of the Westwood Community Band for most of her life. Joining the video game orchestra has added a fun new element to her musical community.

“Here, there’s a lot more professionals and people who’ve gone through music school, and so the quality of the music is a lot higher and the music is a lot more challenging. I get to play with my type of people, my type of music and more challenging music, which is awesome,” says Aubin, a French horn player, faculty of music alum and Zelda enthusiast.

While the orchestra has performed several smaller shows, including sending a quintet to Winnipeg Comiccon in October, Friday’s Genesis concert — a nod to the Sega Genesis system and the group’s commencement (not to be confused with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra’s tribute to Phil Collins and prog rockers Genesis this weekend) — will be its largest event to date.

The evening will open with a performance from 8-bit and the Single Players, a separate ensemble led by local jazz drummer and YouTuber Ben Kidd.

“It’s going to be exciting music, it’s going to be catchy music and it’s not going to be too obtuse or hard to get into for the average person,” Kidd says of the lineup.

Kidd, another school of music grad, has attracted hundreds of thousands of followers to his YouTube channel, 8-Bit Music Theory, where he analyzes the soundtracks of new and vintage games.

He sees video game music as an accessible entry point into classical arrangements for the general public.

“Some of the best moments of my life have been playing instrumental music and there’s certain classical works that just knock me over. Everyone should be able to appreciate that, but there’s a certain amount of education or exposure that you need to get past the barrier of being able to tell why it’s so interesting,” Kidd says.

“The video game music world does (create) an in for people to enjoy instrumental music.”

eva.wasney@winnipegfreepress.com