Symphonic Tribute to Comic Con

Symphonic Tribute to Comic Con
Colorado Symphony
Boettcher Concert Hall
Denver, CO
February 8, 2019

The Salute to Comic Con has become a biannual tradition at the Colorado Symphony appealing to cosplayers and pop culture geeks alike. With a wealth of music to choose from, it is never the same concert.

This year, the conducting duties were shared by associate conductor Christopher Dragon and video game composer Austin Wintory. Dragon led the movie and television themes while Wintory appropriately conducted the video game music.

The program began with the theme from Game of Thrones. Christopher Dragon entered dressed as a dragon. It was the first of his four costumes. He also wore costumes for Darth Vader, Harry Potter and Gandolf the wizard.

The video game music was less familiar, but still fascinating to listen to. Soloist Marissa Rudd immaculately performed “I Was Born For This” demonstrating that not only is gaming music beautiful, but also complex.

 Throughout the concert, upcoming movie in concert performances were promoted. Selections from Mary Poppins, The Empire Strikes Back and Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince were played with a reminder of these dates coming up.

The concert concluded with a suite from The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings. This was a new piece for the symphony and the music shone.

This year the performance did not feature cosplayers as it has it in the past, which was a bit of a disappointment. Not as many audience members were dressed in costume. So the atmosphere was not as festive as in years past. However the music was beautifully played and outside of its original context, it took on a life of its own.