World Soundtrack Awards 2023 – Concert ‘PRESS PLAY: Music in Games’ & Austin Wintory

‘PRESS PLAY: Music in Games’ concert

Composers for screen go beyond writing music for just film and television. In the realm of video games, there are countless wonderful scores to discover. More and more composers no longer distinguish between audiovisual media. Which is why this year’s Film Fest Gent music concert is devoted to music in games.

 

On 19 October 2023 in Capitole Gent, you can journey into the world of video game music through the concert ‘PRESS PLAY: Music in Games’. The host of the concert – and thus the first official guest – is Austin Wintory, whose music will be performed live by the Brussels Philharmonic.

 

His best-known works for video game music are his scores for the games Journey, Assassin’s Creed Syndicate, Abzû, and Flow. His soundtrack for Journey made history in 2013 as the first and only video game score to receive a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media. Back in 2021, he was a guest at Film Fest Gent during the WSA Film Music Days for a Composer’s Talk to reflect on his career as a composer and his experiences with remuneration in the industry. Austin Wintory’s work will be played, and as a composer who has also fought to give game music the necessary recognition as a genre, he will also present the concert.

 

Read more about this concert and get tickets here (18-43 € / 165 € – VIP):

https://www.worldsoundtrackawards.com/news/50th-film-fest-gent-honours-game-music-with-concert-music-in-games-and-new-music-prize

 

WSA Game Music Award

Starting in 2023, the festival introduces a brand new WSAward: the WSA Game Music Award, recognising composers who write original scores for video games and/or other interactive media. As video game music has evolved into its own genre, the award aims to celebrate the crucial role music plays in immersing players in virtual worlds. Furthermore, the audience gets to decide: from July onwards everyone can vote for their favourite game score of the year. Who will win the very first WSA Game Music Award?

 

Composition Contest 2023

Aspiring composers will have the chance to showcase their talent in the annual Composition Contest by Film Fest Gent, competing to win the Sabam Award for Best Original Composition by a Young Composer worth 2.500 €. This year, the participants (screen composers under the age of 36) are asked to write a score for an excerpt from the video game Abzû, which lets gamers dive into the depths of the sea and explore enchanting ocean environments. Brussels Philharmonic will perform the music composed by the three finalists at the World Soundtrack Awards Ceremony & Concert on Saturday 21 October (read more).

 

More information (deadline to register, May 17th):

https://www.worldsoundtrackawards.com/education/composition-contest