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I snagged my tickets (one for me, one for my freak-for-Zelda sister—my hot date) the day they went on sale, and they’ve been on the white board in my office for the last five months. So I’ve been excited for a while that The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses would be coming to town.

Well, the time is almost here, for me at least. The Zelda Symphony will be in The Legendarium’s home town of Salt Lake City on October 15th, with plenty more dates to come. (They’re even performing next week on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert.) Grab your tickets and look forward to the show.

In the meantime, you can get a preview of what to expect right here. I had the chance to chat with two key people from the show: Amy Andersson, the conductor; and Jason Michael Paul, the executive producer. They gave me a bit of a preview of the show, and we chatted a little about what Zelda—and Zelda music—means to them.

The Legendarium Podcast: Tell me about your role with the Zelda Symphony.

Amy Andersson: I’m the music director for The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses. I’m on tour with the orchestra for 2015 and 2016. I come to each city with my team, my producer, my technical producer, and we work with a different orchestra in every city. So when we come to Salt Lake we’re going to be working with musicians there, and when we’re in New York we’ll work with musicians there. So we train the orchestra and rehearse the orchestra the day of the show and then put on a show that night. So if I’ve done thirty of these shows, I’ve worked with thirty different groups. And that’s what keeps it fresh!

TLP: Tell us a bit about what to expect in the audience, and as we arrive the night of the concert.

Jason Michael Paul: As soon as you come up to the venue, you’re going to feel like you’re entering Hyrule, and you’re feeling like you’re part of this Zelda community. You’ll start seeing people in cosplay, whether it’s a Link costume or a Princess Zelda costume, and you immediately feel comfortable. Depending on the show, sometimes we’ll have props displayed, or we’ll have some of the game box visuals as big backdrops. There will also be an extensive merchandise selection that we’ll offer fans, which will all have to do with the Master Quest iteration [of the Zelda Symphony]. We made an effort to make it so that fans could really have a lot to choose from. In certain markets we try to brand the venue and make it sort of a more immersive experience.

TLP: And when the show starts, is this like any other symphony, or different?

Amy: Well, it is actually very different. A normal symphony orchestra concert, when one goes to one, there’s sort of a symphonic protocol that one is expected to follow, which means you try not to cough, you try not to drop your program, you try not to move, because that’s just the etiquette that’s been expected for a long, long time when one goes to the orchestra. But in the Zelda Symphony concerts, audience members are encouraged to show their support and enthusiasm, so they applaud whenever they want, they break out in cheer, they applaud in the middle of pieces, in between the pieces, so it’s a very free and very supportive atmosphere for everyone. We encourage the audience to get involved, and it really gives us on stage a real wonderful feedback which we also appreciate. We had a fabulous audience last night in Providence. The orchestra is truly liberated by what the audience shows us. Because they come from mostly a classical background and do classical orchestra concerts, and when they hear the cheering and the screaming, they look at me like, “I can’t believe this is happening!”

TLP: As you’ve explored the music of the Zelda franchise, can you speak at all to what that music means to the success of a game like that?

Amy: It’s an interesting question. I actually don’t think about it in those terms. It’s more, what does this music mean to the Zelda fans. It means a tremendous amount to the fans. Zelda fans are extremely devoted. And the music touches everyone, me included, and people in the orchestra. It touches everyone on a very deep, emotional level. There’s a lot of tenderness, there’s sadness, there’s melancholy, there’s joy, there’s beauty, there’s all these incredible layers of emotion in the music, and that’s what really touches the fans. I think of it in those terms. Not what is the music doing for Nintendo, or whatever, but what the music does for the fans.

TLP: Do you have a personal favorite song that you look forward to every night?

Amy: Well, I love Wind Waker, I love Twilight Princess, and I love Ocarina of Time. When I start those, I think, “Oh, here we go!” I particularly like those three.

Jason: Honestly, everything in the program really speaks to me. This is really the program that I wanted to put together, so every piece has its place. I really enjoy the boss battle medley. I also like the overture that we’ve created.

TLP: Tell me a little about your history with the franchise. Are you a fan of Zelda?

Jason: Yeah, of course! I started playing Nintendo NES when I was a young boy, about eight or nine, with the gold cartridges, for that matter. I’ve played a lot more than just the Zelda games, of course, Castlevania, Mario, Sonic the Hedgehog on Sega. But you know, as I get older, I don’t have as much time, but I’ve been enjoying playing against my daughter now, now that she’s old enough to play games. The majority of my game playing now has mostly to do with research, and trying to make sure I have a base knowledge going into these projects.

TLP: Your favorite in the franchise?

Jason: I have a bit of a personal connection with Skyward Sword. I produced the orchestral CD that was released as part of the bundle. So that one has a warm place in my heart, only because it’s the first time that Nintendo had ever let someone produce an orchestral CD. Obviously I take a lot of pride in that.

TLP: How closely did you work with Nintendo? Were they heavily involved in this project?

Jason: Absolutely. We worked very closely with Nintendo. A lot of the creative direction comes from the top, from as high as Mr. [Shigeru] Miyamoto. It’s been a good collaborative effort between my team and Nintendo.

TLP: Since a couple of disasters in the ‘90s, it seems like Nintendo has been pretty stingy with its franchises being allowed across different media. It feels like they’re loosening up a bit these days, with things like Bowser in Wreck-It Ralph. Do you feel like this event fits into their loosening up of their franchises?

Jason: I don’t know, I don’t know if that’s necessarily true. It’s just a matter of how they want to run their business. They beat to the count of their own drum, you know? They’re going to keep doing what they do, and as long as they continue to put out the best possible games that they feel comfortable with, that’s all they care about. They just want to make the fans happy.

I think it’s safe to say that as long as Nintendo keeps turning out great Zelda games, and great music, their fans will be plenty happy.

Be sure to subscribe to The Legendarium Podcast, and follow us on facebook and twitter to keep up with our explorations of fantasy and its wonderful fans.