The NintenTones Video Game Jazz Orchestra will be playing in New Ulm at the New Ulm Public Library on June 22 at 2:00 pm. The group was founded by Mankato resident, Ryan Rader, through a Creative Individuals Grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board.

Ryan is a private music teacher at Scheitel’s Music in Mankato and at Martin Luther College in New Ulm. He has assembled a six-piece jazz ensemble including saxophone, trumpet, trombone, piano, electric bass and drums which will perform jazz-infused video game melodies that span the past 40 years. The group aspires to appeal to jazz and video game enthusiasts of all ages and hopes to have a few musical surprises in store for the audiences.

Ryan suggests that the two mediums blend well together as video game melodies and song forms resemble many classic jazz standards. He belongs to a generation that spent their childhood playing video games in the late ’80s and into the ’90s and who would eventually become professional musicians as adults.

“It’s been a lot of fun re-imagining how these melodies- some of which written with the limitations of early gaming consoles- can be performed in a setting that has elements of live performance and improvisation. I’m excited to share this project with the public.”

The NintenTones will perform six concerts in Southern Minnesota hosted primarily by regional libraries. Each concert will last about and hour and are free and open to the public.