Fourteen years after their first performance with the Mansfield Symphony, PROJECT Trio returns to the Renaissance Theatre stage on Saturday, October 17 at 7:30 PM for Game On! The Sound of Play, part of the OhioHealth Symphony Series. Conducted by Music Director Octavio Más-Arocas, the concert pairs one of the most inventive ensembles in classical music with the music of Shelby native and video game composer Sean Beeson.

PROJECT Trio has built an international following by doing what few ensembles dare: taking familiar melodies apart and putting them back together as something entirely new. With beatbox flute, saxophone, and double bass, the trio moves freely between classical, jazz, hip-hop, funk, and rock, often within the same piece. A melody audiences think they know can become a groove, a conversation, or a full-scale improvisation before it reaches its final bar.

That approach has taken the ensemble to concert halls, universities, and orchestras across 43 states and 12 countries. PROJECT Trio was also among the first classical ensembles to use online video to reach new audiences, building a worldwide following with more than 100 million views. Audiences who saw the group with the Mansfield Symphony in 2012 will find an ensemble that has spent the years since refining a sound unlike any other.

The evening also celebrates a composer whose career began close to home. Born in Shelby and a 2003 graduate of Buckeye Central High School, Beeson studied music composition at Capital University and has since composed for video games, animation, film trailers, and amusement attractions for clients around the world, all while continuing to call Crawford County home. His credits include music for Talking Tom & Friends and numerous game projects.

Audiences expecting the bleeps and chirps of classic arcade games are in for a lush surprise. Beeson’s work belongs to the sweeping, cinematic side of game music: the orchestral scores behind fantasy and adventure games, where music builds entire worlds, sets the emotional stakes of a story, and carries players through moments of discovery and triumph. Performed by a full live orchestra, these scores reveal just how far the music of play has traveled.

PROJECT Trio’s visit extends well beyond the concert. The ensemble has reached more than 850,000 students through performances, workshops, and residencies, with students in Mansfield included: on Thursday, October 15, the group joins the Mansfield Symphony for Link Up: The Orchestra Moves, a free school-day program introducing area students to the orchestra through music, movement, and active participation.

Whether audiences remember PROJECT Trio’s 2012 performance, have followed Beeson’s career from its local beginnings, or simply want to hear the orchestra in an entirely new way, Game On! promises an evening that challenges every expectation of what a symphony concert can sound like.

Game On! The Sound of Play is presented as part of the OhioHealth Symphony Series. Tickets are available through the Renaissance Box Office, by phone at 419-522-2726, or online at www.rentickets.org.

Sponsorship opportunities are still available for this and other Renaissance events. For more information, contact Grace Riegel at grace@mansfieldtickets.com.