Taking place on 15th June, 2019 at Hull City Hall.

It has been announced that 8-Bit Symphony, a live concert celebrating video game music from the Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, and ZX Spectrum platforms, will be making its premiere in Hull next year.

The evening features over 90 minutes of reorchestrated music performed by the Hull Philharmonic Orchestra.

Composer Rob Hubbard, a native of Hull, recently came out of retirement to compose a track for Go Go Dash, a mobile game developed by Hull College for Android and iOS.

Hubbard has also orchestrated five Commodore 64 pieces which will be performed at the concert.

The 8-Bit Symphony concert is backed by the Hull Philharmonic Orchestra, Hull College, as well as C64Audio.com – the music publisher headed by remixer Chris Abbott.

Abbott said in a press release that, “There’s no big corporate money waiting in the wings for Commodore 64 music, so I’m really grateful to Hull College for finally giving this amazing team, led by Rob Hubbard himself, a chance to showcase these astonishing orchestrations. They truly have to be heard to be believed.

“This concert is a celebration of that fondly remembered age of good old British ingenuity and gumption: a time of Monty, Jet Set Willy, Ocean, Imagine and Zzap!64.”

Abbott went on to say, “I have apparently been so obsessed with this music that I have ended up acquiring the publishing rights, signing up composers, hosting live events, releasing remix CDs, running successful Kickstarters and even teaching myself orchestral arrangement!”

8-Bit Symphony features live orchestrations of music from retro games including Aztec Challenge, Forbidden Forest, Monty on the Run, Ghosts and Goblins, Comic Bakery, and Green Beret.

The concert is also a tribute to the late composers Richard Joseph and Ben Daglish, who both passed from lung cancer in 2007 and 2018, respectively.

A portion of the money raised by the event will go to charities SpecialEffect and Macmillan Cancer Support.

If 8-Bit Symphony is deemed successful, Abbott plans to tour variations of the concert in the UK and Europe.

8-Bit Symphony takes place on 15th June, 2019 at Hull City Hall, with the evening starting at 7:30pm.

Tickets are on sale now for £15 and can be booked from the Hull New Theatre box office on 01482 300 306, or from the Hull New Theatre & Hull City Hall website.