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Press release:
Wroclaw, Poland – 8th March 2024.
The Game Music Foundation are today very proud and pleased to announce an additional concert, circling back to the roots of Game Muisic Festival in Poland. On April 28th, 2024, the National Forum of Music in Wroclaw will once again become a place to celebrate the art of video game music, featuring scores from The Last of Us and The Last of Us Part II.

In addition to the concert, a meet-and-greet session combined with a masterclass by the famous composer Gustavo Santaolalla will allow the most dedicated fans and aspiring musicians to ask their questions in person!

Tickets are already available for purchase at gmfest.com.

The Sounds of the Fireflies is a musical journey through the unforgiving yet hopeful world of The Last of Us video games. With over 80 awards, 17 million copies sold, and the TV adaptation being HBO Max’s most-watched project in history, both parts of Naughty Dog studio’s masterpiece left a strong imprint in hearts of gamers all over the world. BAFTA-nominated original scores composed by Oscar-winning guitar virtuoso Gustavo Santaolalla perfectly resonate with the emotional landscape of the game. From haunting, life-threatening situations to sombre, melancholic moments and gut-wrenching decisions – his music amplifies each scene, creating a synergistic, emotional spectacle. To enhance the show even further, Gustavo Santaolalla himself will appear on stage alongside the NFM Wroclaw Philharmonic in a performance set to captivate hearts and minds, ensuring an extraordinary experience for all attendees.

Game Music Festival 2024 will begin with The Sounds of the Fireflies, a musical journey through the unforgiving yet hopeful world of The Last of Us. With 80 awards, over 17 million copies sold and the TV adaptation being HBO Max’s most-watched project in history, both parts of Naughty Dog’s masterpiece left a strong imprint in the hearts of gamers all over the world. BAFTA-nominated original scores, composed by Oscar-winning guitar virtuoso Gustavo Santaolalla perfectly resonate with the emotional landscape of the game. From haunting, life-threatening situations to sombre, melancholic moments and gut-wrenching decisions – his music amplifies each scene, creating a synergistic, emotional spectacle. To enhance the show even further, Gustavo Santaolalla himself will appear on stage alongside the Philharmonia Orchestra in a performance set to captivate hearts and minds.

Gustavo Santaolalla is a prolific, outstanding figure in the music industry, with many award nominations (BAFTA, Grammy, Golden Globes) and multiple awards won – including Oscars for his scores for Brokeback Mountain and Babel. As he said himself, “I don’t see myself as a film composer. I see myself as more of an artist that uses different forms to express myself. I love it all.”. Between working closely with renowned cinema directors like Alejandro González Iñárritu and composing for multiple television series, The Last of Us was his first video game project – and it was a tremendous success. Following the first game, he also created the score for The Last of Us Part II and co-created the music for The Last of Us TV series.

We are really happy to come back to Wroclaw.” commented the founders of The Game Music Festival. “Wroclaw with its National Forum of Music have a very special place in our hearts, as our cooperation goes years back. The whole GMF initiative started here, so we are honoured to bring such an esteemed guest as Gustavo Santaolalla himself to the place where it has all begun.”

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Tickets:
Ticket prices start from 199 PLN and rise according to seat location. Strictly limited VIP vouchers are also available for 599 PLN – they include premium seating, as well as admissions to a combined meet-and-greet / masterclass with Gustavo Santaolalla on-site. Tickets are now available at gmfest.com.

Venue:
The Witold Lutoslawski National Forum of Music (NFM) is an impressive edifice located in Wroclaw, Poland. The perfect acoustics of its concert halls put it among the best objects of its kind in the world. Moreover, the venue has innovative systems for programming acoustics, including the shifting ceiling in the main concert hall and an air margin encircling it, allowing to control the length of reverberation.

Artists:
The music will be performed live by the NFM Wroclaw Philharmonic. The NFM’s symphonic orchestra was founded in 1945, and since then it has been delivering dozens of unique projects, as well as promoting Polish music around the world. Furthermore, Gustavo Santaolalla, the brilliant mind behind each of The Last of Us soundtracks, will join the stage to show his proficiency with guitar during The Sounds of the Fireflies. Concert will be conducted by maestro Robert Kurdybacha, a long-time associate of GMF who has arranged and conducted several fan-favourite symphonies for previous editions of the festival.

About Game Music Foundation:
The Game Music Foundation is formed by a group of individuals passionate about the music of video games. Our team created gamemusic.net which has been one of the most active and comprehensive portals dedicated to game audio since 2006. GMF is based in Poland, but its mission is international. GMF also run Gamemusic Records, a label releasing game music on vinyl, such as the Frostpunk and Heroes of Might & Magic soundtracks, as well as Gamemusic Magazine, the first-ever paper magazine devoted entirely to video game music.

Game Music Festival on Wikipedia.

Video reportages on Game Music Festivals 2018, 2019, 2020 & 2022 can be found below:

GMF 2022:
Featuring music from Cuphead and Ori And The Will Of The Wisps.

GMF 2020:
Featuring music from Divinity Original Sin 2, Baldur’s Gate, Hades, Pyre, Transistor and Bastion.

GMF 2019:
Featuring music from Shadow Of The Colossus, Ico, Hitman, Assassin’s Creed and Journey.

GMF 2018:
Featuring music from Grim Fandango, Heroes of Might and Magic II, III & IV, Diablo, Diablo 2, World of Warcraft, StarCraft and StarCraft II