EnglishConvention - PGW 2025: PGW Symphonic – When Video Games Become an Orchestra of Emotions
By Mulder, Paris, Paris Expo Porte de Versailles, 29 october 2025
On October 29, 2025, the Dôme de Paris will open its doors to an event that merges two worlds once thought incompatible — symphonic music and video games. The PGW Symphonic concert, performed by the Sinfonia Pop Orchestra and the Cinephonia Choir, will be one of those rare evenings where nostalgia, artistry, and technology share the same stage. Scheduled for 9:30 p.m. as part of Paris Games Week 2025, this concert invites audiences to rediscover some of the most evocative soundscapes in gaming history — from the melancholic grandeur of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim to the heroic choruses of Halo, the soulful tension of Silent Hill 2, and the adrenaline-filled notes of Metal Gear Solid Δ: Snake Eater. It’s not just a concert; it’s a living anthology of emotions that defined generations of players.
When Paris Games Week first ventured into orchestral performance in 2017, with its inaugural PGW Symphonic show at the Grand Rex, it was a gamble — but one that paid off beautifully. That night proved that the music of video games could fill a concert hall with the same reverence as film scores. Now, eight years later, the 2025 edition takes things further: an expanded program, the majestic acoustics of the Dôme de Paris, and a curation that blends legends and newcomers alike. The evening will be conducted by Jordan Gudefin, a name well known to classical music enthusiasts since he reached the final of the prestigious Besançon International Competition for Young Conductors in 2017. Since then, his career has flourished through collaborations with orchestras such as the Orchestre National de Lyon and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg. His affinity for screen music and dynamic interpretations make him a natural fit for this ambitious musical adventure.
The Sinfonia Pop Orchestra, founded in 2009, has become a powerhouse in the French musical landscape. Known for projects like Disney en Concert, Dragon Ball in Concert, and Danny Elfman’s Music from the Films of Tim Burton, the ensemble bridges pop culture and orchestral excellence. Its mission has always been to bring symphonic music closer to the public — not through compromise, but through passion. The orchestra has repeatedly proven that pop culture can inspire works of sophistication, and its past productions at venues like the Palais des Congrès, the Zéniths of France, and La Défense Arena are testimony to its scale and ambition. For PGW Symphonic, the orchestra embraces both the raw intimacy of solo passages and the overwhelming beauty of collective resonance, creating a sonic experience that evokes every pulse of adventure, fear, and wonder gamers have lived behind their screens.
Complementing this orchestral might is the Cinephonia Choir, led by Clément Piraux, an ensemble of young, professional singers specializing in music for the screen. Known for their ethereal yet powerful harmonies, they have become a staple in French film and video game concerts, collaborating with orchestras such as Colonne and Sinfonia Pop. Their participation adds an essential human texture — from the mystical Gregorian chants of Halo to the folk-inflected sea shanties of Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag. The choir’s voices act as bridges between worlds: digital and real, ancient and futuristic, solitary and collective.
The setlist reads like a love letter to the golden age of gaming. From Hogwarts Legacy: The Legacy of Hogwarts to Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, each piece was selected not just for its popularity, but for its emotional depth. The medley of God of War themes promises raw, mythic energy; Sid Meier’s Civilization IV will unfold its grandeur through orchestral swells that mirror the rise and fall of empires; and The Legend of Zelda is expected to close the evening with an almost spiritual finale — a timeless melody that transcends generations. Beyond nostalgia, the concert aims to celebrate video game music as a legitimate art form — one capable of shaping our emotions as powerfully as any film score or symphony.
Behind the scenes, this event owes much to Julie Chalmette, President of SELL (Syndicat des Editeurs de Logiciels de Loisirs), whose vision helped bring music and gaming together under one roof. As she once explained, Paris Games Week Symphonic mirrors the essence of gaming itself — a unique experience that connects people emotionally and culturally. Producers Damien Maric and Romain Dasnoy, already known for the Dragon Ball Symphonic Adventure and other genre-defining productions with Overlook Events, are once again at the helm. For them, the event isn’t just a concert — it’s a shared act of remembrance and rediscovery. As they often put it, offering such a performance feels “like opening a secret, well-hidden door to our childhood.”
The PGW Symphonic concert also reflects a broader cultural movement: the growing recognition of video game music as a serious art form. Composers like Nobuo Uematsu, Jeremy Soule, and Bear McCreary have long blurred the lines between classical and interactive composition, crafting pieces that breathe life into pixels and polygons. This concert, with its range from Mafia: The Old Country to Horizon Forbidden West, affirms that game music can be as universal and emotionally charged as Beethoven or Morricone — because both speak to the same human truths: tension, triumph, and transformation.
In a way, PGW Symphonic 2025 isn’t just a performance — it’s a reckoning with how far gaming culture has come. The same players who once hummed these melodies in dimly lit bedrooms now fill concert halls to relive them in symphonic form. The Sinfonia Pop Orchestra and Cinephonia Choir stand at the crossroads of memory and modernity, giving flesh and resonance to the invisible world of soundtracks that have accompanied countless adventures. And as the final notes of The Legend of Zelda fade into the vaulted space of the Dôme de Paris, one truth will linger — that the music of video games, once considered mere background, now holds center stage where it always belonged.
Tracklist :
001 - Hogwarts legacy
002 - Hogwarts legacy
003 - Assassin’s creed iv black flag
004 - The elder scrolls v skyrim
005 - Metal gear solid Δ snake eater
006 - Mafia the old country
007 - Silent hill 2
008 - God of war
009 - God of war
010 - Kingdom come deliverance ii
011 - Sid Meier’s Civilization iv
012 - World of Warcraft
013 - Uncharted 4 a thief’s end
014 - Halo
015 - Horizon forbidden west
016 - The legend of Zelda
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Photos and video : Boris Colletier / Mulderville