Sunday, February 14, 2016

A Special Video for Our Crowd Created HALO Orchestra!

As many of you know, at the May 1st, 2016 Video Games Live show in Dublin, Ireland, as part of the Dublin International Game Music Festival (April 29-May1st, Dublin Ireland), we are attempting to set a Guinness record for the greatest number of individuals involved in a crowd created orchestra.  

The chosen composition for the project:  The classic "Theme from HALO" by Marty O'Donnell and Michael Salvatori.

Many of you have already signed up to perform (200+) and are working on your own videos to contribute - that's just awesome!  (Click here to learn how to participate) 

And we have just started to see the results of your efforts in our inbox via "wetransfer."

But the first video we received came from Catherine Stay.


She was so inspirational, we thought we should share a bit of her story with you in her own words (with her permission).
"What do video games and video game music mean to me? 
The fact that I am wheelchair-bound by way of cerebral palsy means I can't do a lot of things without assistance (travel, make food, take care of my cat, etc).   
With such physical limitations existing, I had two choices: allow myself to dwell on what I couldn't do (and give up), or strengthen my mind in any way possible.  
Video games were/are a form of escape for me.   When I was younger, I could put myself in the shoes of the character and live their story for a few hours.   
As I got older and needed to spend increasingly more time in the real world, I would play video games for a different reason: the music (I've even bought some video game soundtracks).  
When I got out of school for good (regular school, what a nightmare), that was when I started taking music seriously.  Before that, I taught myself the basics of the treble clef; I took choir at school; & I've kind of noodled around on the piano since age 8. 
I decided at age 19 to start learning the violin and I'm almost 27 now. 
Our personal reaction:

When so many of us allow the small barriers in life to keep us from expressing our art and music, it's inspiring to see someone who does not allow any barriers to exist.

And for those of us who help create video games, hearing Catherine tell of her experience as a gamer puts the real value of games into perspective.  In the games, we all can fly.

We invite you to check out and share Catherine's YouTube Channel to hear some of the other projects she's been creating and to show her your support.


And of course, to all you musicians out there, we invite you to participate in our Dublin International Game Music Festival by  joining our crowd created HALO Orchestra!

And of course, please join us for our Video Games Live show on May 1st, 2016, at the Dublin Convention Center!  See the debut of this ground breaking video, synchronized with our live orchestra, conducted by Eimear Noone.

http://www.flavorus.com/event/IDIG-MUSIC-FESTIVAL-2016/294613

Best,

Craig Stuart Garfinkle and Eimear Noone

1 comment:

  1. Thank you, Catherine! And thank you, Craig, for sharing Catherine's story. I'm one of the folks signed up to perform for the HALO Orchestra, but I'm many years past the prime of my musical chops and far out of practice. Catherine, you've inspired me to get back to work and let the art back out!

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