Now the theaters are full of concerts with soundtracks, including videogames: it all started with Morricone

The lights dim. On stage the maestro starts the orchestra. The first notes are enough to recognize a musical theme from a film or video game. In recent years i concerts dedicated to pop soundtracks they have become an increasingly frequent presence in the programs of theatres, auditoriums and large arenas. A phenomenon which, especially in the period following the pandemic, has also found fertile ground in Italy. On the cinematographic front, the link between audiences and music for images has deep roots. The name that more than any other has contributed to building this relationship is that of Ennio Morricone. His international tours have demonstrated that a soundtrack can live even far from the film for which it was composed. Today this tradition continues and grows. Among the most significant cases is the Italian Cinema Orchestrawhich over the years has brought numerous film concerts to our country dedicated to the saga of Harry Potter. According to data released by the same organization, the shows exceeded 120 sold out performances and attracted over 250,000 spectators in Italy and on international tours. 2025 marked a further step forward with the birth of SLAM – Sounds Like a Moviean international festival dedicated to soundtracks hosted in Milan. Concerts, screenings, meetings and masterclasses have transformed music for cinema into the absolute protagonist of an autonomous cultural event, a sign of an interest that goes beyond the simple enjoyment of the film.

The growth also concerns the videogame sector. Taking Italy as a prime example, in the last two years alone the country has hosted an ever-increasing number of events dedicated to video game soundtracks. One ended recently: last June 20th and 21st, the Teatro Dal Verme in Milan welcomed shows such as Music Legendswhile in 2024 the concert of the composer of Final Fantasy, Nobuo Uematsu, at the Conciliazione Auditorium in Rome was sold out. The initiative was proposed again in 2025 with new dates and an additional stop in Milan. These are not isolated cases. From Sicily to Lombardy, symphony orchestras, festivals and cultural associations have dedicated concerts to the music of Kingdom Hearts, The Last of Us and other sagas that have marked entire generations of players. The phenomenon is also evident abroad: a London Game Music Festival Every year it offers programs dedicated exclusively to video game music. Specifically, the annual offer includes the soundtracks of the titles that participated in the Game Awards in Los Angeles. Very often composers also participate: this year for example they are there Hades 2’s Darren Korb and Persona’s Shoji Meguro.

A phenomenon born long before the pandemic

Soundtrack concerts are nothing new. In cinema, the music of composers such as John Williams they began to steadily enter the repertoires of large orchestras as early as the 1980s and 1990s. The real turning point, however, came in the early 2000s with the spread of the so-called cineconcertsshows in which an orchestra performs the soundtrack live while the film is projected on the big screen. One of the most significant moments is the launch of Star Wars in Concert in 2009. A few years later comes the Harry Potter Film Concert Seriesproduced by CineConcerts and Warner Bros., destined to become one of the biggest successes in the industry. According to data communicated by the organizers, the series exceeded 3 million spectators and almost 3,000 performances in over 48 countries, helping to transform the concert film into a global format.

In the world of video games the path is different. And in some respects even earlier. According to Guinness World Records, the first concert entirely dedicated to videogame music dates back to 20 August 1987 at Suntory Hall in Tokyo. On stage, the composer Koichi Sugiyama with a program based on the music of Dragon Quest. It is an episode that well illustrates the pioneering role of Japan, where video game soundtracks achieved cultural recognition much earlier than in the West. For that, we had to wait until 2005, when it was born Video Games Livethe first major traveling show dedicated exclusively to video game music. Two years later it debuted Distant Worlds: Music from Final Fantasy. From 2007 to today, the project has held over 250 sold out concerts around the world and was the first event dedicated to videogame music to perform in prestigious halls such as Carnegie Hall in New York.

The key to success is audiovisual memory

Soundtracks occupy a particular place in the collective imagination. They are often the most immediate vehicle of audiovisual memorybecause the notes can bring to mind an iconic scene, a character or a fight in front of a screen. The strength of these shows comes precisely from the ability to transform an individual memory into a shared experience. Performing live adds a physical dimension that no recording can replicate. The public therefore does not limit itself to listening to a soundtrack: it rediscovers it through the sound of dozens of musicians who interpret it in real time. In the case of video games, this emotional component seems to be particularly strong.

In an investigation reported by Classic FM in early 2025, more than half of gamers surveyed said they would like to attend an orchestral concert dedicated to video game music. The British broadcaster itself has started a collaboration with the content creator DanTDMfollowed by around 29 million subscribers on YouTube, for a series of content dedicated to game music. A sign of how soundtracks and the people who created them are gaining ever greater visibility. A possible explanation comes from James Keirledirector of the London Video Game Orchestra. Interviewed by the Financial Times in 2019, Keirle observes that “the power of music as an emotional catalyst is amplified when it is linked to a narrative, and video game music is embedded in your psyche, even more than a film soundtrack”. A reflection that helps to understand the particularly intense bond that many players develop with the soundtracks of the works that they accompany for dozens, sometimes hundreds, of hours.

It then contributes to making the experience even more engaging the multimedia aspect. In most cases, scenes from the films or video games celebrated by the concert are projected behind the orchestra. Some productions also involve actors, voice actors and special guests. This is the case of Soundtracks Live Orchestra Concerta show featuring the participation of Luca Ward and builds its repertoire around some of the most famous film music of recent decades. The result is a format that is halfway between concert, audiovisual show and cultural celebration of the original work. The audience also enriches the atmosphere thanks to cosplay and themed clothing.

The numbers cited no longer describe a niche. From the sould outs of Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 at the Royal Festival Hall in London to the tours dedicated to the music of Hans Zimmer in the largest European arenas, it seems that the phenomenon is destined to consolidate further. Cinema and video games are able to provide orchestras with new repertoires and new types of audiences, not necessarily already accustomed to theater and symphonic music, while the spaces that welcome them find formulas and performances capable of communicating with generations who grew up on screens, consoles and streaming platforms.