[1][2][3][4][5] Most of GSO's members are non-music majors[4][6][7] The orchestra holds a free concert every semester during the academic year and yearly charity fundraisers that benefit Children's National Hospital in Washington, D.C.[8][9] Michelle Eng, a violist in the School of Music's Repertoire Orchestra, founded GSO in the fall of 2005.
[4][14] Composer Jonathan Coulton complimented the GSO's 2008 performance of "Still Alive," from the popular video game "Portal," calling it a "fantastic cover" in a post on his blog.
[17][18][19] GSO and Video Games Live staff began discussing collaborative possibilities in August 2010 for the pair of Strathmore concerts.
[20] VGL founder Tommy Tallarico chose to include an adapted version of GSO's arrangement of "Korobeiniki" ("A-Type") from Tetris in the Strathmore concert programs.
[20] The National Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorale performed the piece, arranged by GSO Conductor Emeritus Greg Cox.
The ensemble's spring 2011 concert featured Mark Cromer, the senior sound designer for Big Huge Games, as a guest banjo player.
[21] The spring concert, at which the GSO observed its fifth anniversary, also featured a performance of "Electric de Chocobo" from "Final Fantasy VII" by the Magruder High School Gamer Symphony Orchestra.
[25] After the 2013 semester ended, Chris Apple, Ayla Hurley, Rob Garner, and other alums founded the Washington Metropolitan Gamer Symphony Orchestra in Rockville, MD as an outlet for GSO graduates and other community musicians to come together and perform video game music.
The GSO's fall 2008 concert inspired students at Magruder High School in Rockville, Md., to found their own video game orchestra.
[7][8] The similarly named Magruder Gamer Symphony Orchestra performs regularly at the high school's instrumental music concerts as the only non-classroom ensemble.