Press Start Orchestra

Join us on May 20 at 7pm for our second concert as NYC's first community video game orchestra!

This performance includes covers of music from

Vaughan Williams' Symphony No. 5
Yoshi's Island
Honkai: Star Rail
Xenoblade Chronicles
Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria
Chicory: A Colorful Tale
Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald

Press Start Orchestra performs in residency with Rutgers Presbyterian Church. Tickets are available by donation amount of your choice, our suggested donation is $15.

Music Director: Zach Nicely

Zach Nicely is stamping his name in the classical music industry as “the video game music conductor.” He is frequently called as a guest conductor and game music lecturer by ensembles, universities, and high schools across the country. He founded Press Start, a New York orchestra dedicated to programming video game music with classical favorites. He was a finalist for The American Prize in Orchestral Programming in recognition of his inaugural season, which caught the attention of the Mannes School of Music who recruited him to develop such an ensemble for their pre-college program, the Game Orchestra at Mannes Prep.

At home with both multimedia and scores born for the stage, Zach has conducted orchestras across the United States and Japan. He has served as Assistant Conductor with the Litha Symphony Orchestra and Music Director with Killer Queen Opera in New York City. Zach has appeared as a guest conductor with the Advanced Orchestral Conducting Workshop at the University of North Texas and the Tokyo Sinfonia.

Zach actively advocates for the artistic programming of video game music. In 2024 he was invited by the Music and Games (MAG) West conference to lead a panel titled “The Case for VGM in Orchestral Programming”.

Who is 'Press Start?'

We are NYC's community video game cover orchestra. The musicians are gamers from all over the city playing cherished music from their favorite games for an audience of gamers and musicians alike!

We were formed in 2020 as a professional orchestra championing the artistic value of video game music (VGM) in the classical music industry. Our first projects were music videos combining traditions of gaming and chamber music, followed by live concerts programming VGM with classical favorites. The concerts combined the themes and pieces of composers like Austin Wintory, Samuel Barber, Edward Grieg, and Lena Raine all on the same program. The first season was recently named a finalist for The American Prize in Orchestral Programming—Vytautas Marijosius Memorial Award.