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The Symphony of the Goddesses concerts have been an ongoing success for quite a few years, combining iconic music from The Legend of Zelda franchise with orchestral arrangements and performances. It sets off around the world each year - though a hiatus seems likely in 2018 - and often shakes things up to keep fans interested; here are some thoughts on the current run.

The producer and creative force behind the tour is Jason Michael Paul, who has built a career on reimagining and establishing game music in live performances. Speaking to Games Industry.biz, he spoke a little about the changes to incorporate The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

Part of my model is to make it so that when I come to the same city, it is never the same show. It will always be different. For example, I brought back Ballad of the Wind Fish, but with visuals this time. The show is formatted so that I can move things around. And of course, the overtures are updated, and we introduce new songs from new releases. Breath of the Wild will play a big part in this performance. So we continually add new material.

The game's music (BoTW) allowed us to try something different. We've got the grass blowing in the wind to set the stage, and then the piano comes in and then the ducks quacking... combined with the symphony performance, it really works well.

We've been having a lot of fun. Breath of the Wild has enabled us to do things that we've never been able to do before. We've combined in-game sound effects with the live performance.

Paul admits he's eager to push forward with new projects, and doesn't seem entirely in agreement with the plan to give the Symphony of the Goddesses tour a hiatus. Nevertheless he's hopeful of continuing a partnership with Nintendo.

Well... I have been proposing a lot of projects to Nintendo, and to be honest it's a little frustrating. I have all these wonderful ideas and I've created this wonderful machine. But now we are talking about a hiatus [for the Zelda event]. Here we are on this high where we are doing over 70 shows a year with The Legend of Zelda, and then we've got nothing. But I am doing other things. I am working with Bethesda on the hopes of an Elder Scrolls concert. Nothing is confirmed at this point, but I am hopeful.

I am also pleased to say I am going in a different direction, in that I am producing the first ever National Geographic symphony.

I recently put together a really nice proposal for a Super Mario symphony. And we'll see. Hopefully it will stick. I also had another concept called Super Smash Symphony, but that's not going to happen. It's too complicated.

It's well worth checking out the interview (link below) as it includes plenty of positive words about Nintendo and its iconic game creators. Here's hoping that more music from the company's biggest franchises will go on tour in the future.

[source gamesindustry.biz]