MAGFest is a yearly celebration of all things music and gaming. Over 20,000 fans descend upon the Gaylord National Resort in Maryland to attend the festival of performances, panels, games, and anything else a game and/or music enthusiast could ask for. Each year, G.A.N.G. hosts a competition for video game music remixes and covers, where musicians and arrangers compete for over $11,000 in prizes, provided by Music Marketing. This year, over 100 entries were narrowed down to a top 5 in 9 different categories. These nominees were then voted on by a panel of composers and tallied, combined with the popular vote to select our winners.
(Winners are denoted in BOLD)
Best Acoustic/Chamber Remix or Cover – Judged by Zach Abramson, Darren Korb, Zac Zinger
“Flamesgrace, Guiding Light” | Patti Rudisill (ft. IsrafelCello)
“Village of Dali (for String Orchestra)” | Thomas Kresge and the ETHEReal String Orchestra
“Grim Fandango Suite” | The Game Brass and Mariachi Entertainment System
“Chrono Trigger Main Theme” | The Game Brass
“Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild “Kass’s Theme” [Piano Cover]” | DS Music
Best Electronic Remix or Cover – Judged by Tom Salta, David Wise, Gina Zdanowicz
“Press Garden Zone (from “Sonic Mania”) (Chillwave Remix)” | Plasma3Music & Laura Platt
“Lost in Greenpath” | SonikBuster
“Deathborn (DS Remix)” | DS Music
“Spark Mandrill (NES Version)” | Orchestral Fantasy
“Bubble Man” | Orchestral Fantasy
Best Hybrid Remix or Cover – Judged by Zach Abramson, Tom Salta, Gina Zdanowicz
“Katamari on the Symphony” | Thomas Kresge
“World Revolution” | Julia Henderson (Ft. Daniel Romberger, Dan DeSimone, and Marc Papeghin)
“Schala’s Theme” | Eric L.
“Memories of Green” | Julia Henderson (Ft. Patti Rudisill and Peter Anothony Smith)
“Tokyo Daylight (DS Flip)” | DS Music
Best Jazz Remix or Cover – Judged by Mason Lieberman, Lena Raine, Zac Zinger
“Super Deluxe Grand Prix 64” | JohnStacy
“Escape from Salsa City” | Joe Newman
“Augurio Oscuro” | Orchestral Fantasy
“The Final Battle” | Thomas Kresge and ConSoul
“Heightmap” | HatVGM
Best Rock/Metal Remix or Cover – Judged by Darren Korb, Mason Lieberman, Gina Zdanowicz
“Mantis Lords” | Gunderslam
“Super Mario Bros. Symphonic Metal Medley” | String Player Gamer
“Chaos King” | String Player Gamer
“Lavender” | Ro Panuganti
“The Black Mages at Black Mage Village” | Robby Duguay & Sean Schafiasnki
Best Symphonic/Orchestral Remix or Cover – Judged by Zach Abramson, Grant Kirkhope, David Wise
“The Marine Waltz” | Ben Emberley
“Gourmet Race – Russian Folksong” | Ben Emberley
“Find the Princess” | Nathan Gulla and Dorian Mohar
“Lavos’ Theme” | Thomas Kresge
“Duel with the Dragon God” | John Paul Hayward
Best Vocal Remix or Cover – Judged by Darren Korb, David Wise, Zac Zinger
“The Trial” | John Robert Matz
“I Want to Be Your Canary” | John Robert Matz & Jeff Swingle
“Somnus” | The Game Brass and Reven
“Schala’s Theme” | Julia Henderson (Ft. Brooke Ferd and Tera Catallo)
“Corridors of Time” | Julia Henderson (Ft. Ro Panuganti)
Best Live Performance – Judged by Mason Lieberman, Tee Lopes, Lena Raine
“Radical Dreamers ~Unstolen Jewel~ (Live at C’ville Coffee)” | The Hard Modes
“Wii Shop Channel” | The Game Brass
“Snake Eater” | ConSoul
“Megalovania Live at MAGfest” | ConSoul
“ShostakOWA” | Videri String Quartet feat. Dashiel Reed
Best Album – Judged by Mason Lieberman, Tee Lopes, Gerard Marino, Dale North, Lena Raine
“Snowscapes: Dreamy Winter VGM” | Patti Rudisill
“Metal Trainer” | Ro Panuganti
”Brasslevania: A Tribute to the Video Game Macabre” | The Game Brass
“Between Earth and Sky (Music from ‘Chrono Trigger’)” | Julia Henderson
“CHAMBER WORKS: NieR Automata” | Sean Schafianski
A huge thank you to everyone who made this competition possible: Music Marketing and sonible, FabFilter, D16, Sugar Bytes for providing the prizes. MAGFest for having us back. Jeff Penny and John Robert Matz for organizing the event. Bonnie Bogovich and Liz Rishel for hosting. The Game Brass and The Videri String Quartet for performing. Dale North, Darren Korb, David Wise, Grant Kirkhope, Gerard Marino, Gina Zdanowicz, Lena Raine, Mason Lieberman, Tee Lopes, Tom Salta, Zach Abramson, Zac Zinger for judging. Aaliya Mondesir, Amanda Laven, Brian Diamond, Calbert Warner, Emily McMillan, Emmanuel Lagumbay, Fredrik Häthén, Gautam Srikishan, Kristin Naigus, Laura Intravia, Mike Davola, Somepoint Sound for various help. And a special thank you to everyone who submitted and voted!
For more information about MAGFest and their various festivals, visit https://www.magfest.org/