The London Philharmonic Makes Video Game Music Record

The London Philharmonic is set to release an album full of video game favorites on November 8.

This is an upward trend, if classical knows what's good for it. Thousands upon thousands of people started listening to classical music back in the days of powerhouse film composers like Bernard Herrmann, Ennio Morricone, Elmer Bernstein and, of course, John Williams. I don't have statistics on hand, but this is a blog, so I don't need them. It's a fact, though, because it's how I got into it, and how dozens of my friends got into classical music.

And video game music is how today's generation has an opportunity to become interested in buying concert tickets and classical albums.

I witnessed this firsthand when I attended Video Games Live! at Orchestra Hall in January. The hall was as full as always, with droves of fanboys and fangirls cheering and singing along to all their favorite orchestral pieces from all their favorite video games.

There are 21 tracks on the album - music includes Mass Effect, Legend of Zelda, Uncharted, Oblivion, Halo and more.

I'm glad the London Phil is catching on, especially in light of this news from yesterday; I very much doubt this will be their final dip in the gaming pool, and for that, I thank them.

In addition to being an on-air host on Classical MPR, Emily Reese hosts and produces "Top Score" a podcast about video game music