Diablo III

Forgive the apparent oxymoron, but contemporary classical music has majorly benefited from the interest generated by film and game soundtracks, one of the few successful commercial outlets for an increasingly marginalised musical tradition. A case in point is the Sydney based Eminence symphony orchestra, whose tireless efforts to showcase some of the incredible art apparent in our favoured medium come to a head at the annual A Night in Fantasia concert.

Tickets are now on sale for the gaming high-culture event of the year, which this time will feature pieces from the Prince of Persia, Metal Gear Solid and Ace Combat series, the epic Shadow of the Colossus, C&C: Red Alert 3 and even Diablo III - the soundtrack to which has already been partially released as an Eminence recording.

Also on the program is a selection of anime themes, from the upcoming Astro Boy film to fan-favourite Deathnote, as well as a range of classic Studio Ghibli release like My Neighbour Totoro, Laputa: Castle in the Sky, and Princess Mononoke, although this year's selection is tied together by a strong focus on Western music rather than the Japanese-dominated offerings of previous concerts.

For those who've not had a chance to experience Eminence's premiere performances, and might wonder how one behaves at such an event, never fear; accompanying the music are clips and stills from the originating titles, so there's somewhere to fix your eyes while you reminisce fondly on some of the most moving moments of gaming history.

Eminence founder Hiroaki Yura says this year will be the best so far:

"We are really looking forward to presenting A Night in Fantasia 2009 as it's going to be such a huge event, featuring so many wonderful pieces of music, musicians, world class composers and other special guests,"

Amongst the aforementioned guests will be Prince of Persia composer Inon Zur, who is also noted for his contributions to the Fallout 3 score, and will be available to sign autographs and be generally marveled over during the meet-and-greet session.

The seventh of its kind, this year's A Night in Fantasia will be held at the Sydney Entertainment Centre, on Saturday 26th September. Tickets are available now through Ticketmaster. For those who can't make it to Sydney next month despite best efforts, the concert will be recorded live and released on CD, as well as in a limited edition bundled with a behind the scenes DVD, in the months following the concert.