Distant Worlds: Music From Final Fantasy - Final Fantasy
Launched in 2007, Distant Worlds: Music From Final Fantasy is a concert tour that presents music from the Final Fantasy RPG game series produced by Square Enix. The tour began in Stockholm, Sweden on December 4, 2007 and, unlike previous Final Fantasy tours, is a worldwide tour. The tour is produced by AWR Music Productions with support of Thomas Böcker and its release marked the 20th anniversary of Final Fantasy. The tour consists of music conducted by GRAMMY Award-winner and acclaimed conductor Arnie Roth and composed by Nobuo Uematsu. The concerts are performed by choir, orchestra, and with renowned vocal and instrumental soloists. HD video with content from Final Fantasy game developers are projected onto giant screens throughout the showings, and the tour presents a diverse selection of music from the franchise’s over thirty year old history. Multimedia experience continues to delight audiences and draw large crowds throughout the world. At each show, different pieces are added to a rotating setlist. Uematsu has voiced that older pieces should be emphasized over compositions from newer pieces, because the new content hasn’t been given a chance to develop a solid fan base.
After the Distant Worlds II concert in Stockholm, the additional pieces performed were added to the setlist, and for every concert afterward different songs out of that rotation have been chosen for each performance. "Kiss Me Goodbye" from Final Fantasy XII was played at the June 18, 2010 Detroit show, though it was not officially added to the general setlist. It was played again at the April 1, 2011 concert in New York City, which featured an expanded setlist over two concerts. In April 2011 Square Enix announced that the concert series was expected to run for at least three more years. Uematsu has said that he prefers for the tour to add arrangements of older pieces from the series, as he feels that they are what fans are more interested in; he and Roth intend to continue to add more arrangements to the setlist. He was hesitant for pieces from Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy XIV to be added, as he did not feel that they had been around long enough to build a strong following like the older songs.
Distant Worlds II: More Music from Final Fantasy
Distant Worlds II: More Music From Final Fantasy was a concert featuring music from Final Fantasy performed on June 12, 2010 in Stockholm Sweden, similar to the debut of the first Distant Worlds concert. Arnie Roth returned with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra in a new program that offered more classic Final Fantasy hits. A CD of the same repertoire was released under the name Distant Worlds II: More Music From Final Fantasy. Distant Worlds II only refers to the Stockholm show, and the distant worlds concert is currently continuing its worldwide tour.
Distant Worlds: Music from Final Fantasy Returning Home
Distant Worlds: Music from Final Fantasy Returning Home, conducted by Arnie Roth and featuring music composed by Nobuo Uematsu and Masashi Hamauzu, is a concert in the Distant Worlds tour presenting music from the Final Fantasy series. The concert was held on November 6 and 7, 2010 in Tokyo, Japan, by the infamous Kanagawa Philharmonic Orchestra with special guest performances by vocalists Frances Maya and Susan Calloway and others. The concert premiered several arrangements from Final Fantasy Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy XIV, which were then added to the general rotation. The entire 2010 Japan concert was recorded live for a DVD and 2-CD set which was later released on January 19, 2011.
About Nobuo Uematsu
Nobuo Uematsu established himself and built a reputation as one of the best composers in the video game industry for his works on a variety of games, most widely known for his music for the Final Fantasy franchise. Starting with the first release of Final Fantasy, Uematsu has played a vital role in the music of the majority of Final Fantasy games. One of his biggest achievements was winning "Song of the Year” with the Final Fantasy VIII theme song "Eyes On Me" at the 14th Annual Japan Gold Disc Awards in 1999. The song composed by Uematsu featured Hong Kong pop star Faye Wong and sold more than 400,000 copies. Establishing his own production record label company, Dog Ear Records in 2006, Uematsu continues to create music for globally popular game titles such as Smash Bros.
About Arnie Roth
Arnold (Arnie) Roth is an American conductor, music director and Grammy Award winning artist who has performed with famous and high profile musicians all around the world. After graduating from the Bienen School of Music of Northwestern University in 1975, he pursued his music and conducting career. He is most known for his conducting work with the Chicagoland Pops Orchestra, Play! A Video Game Symphony, and his work on Final Fantasy concerts with Nobuo Uematsu.
History of orchestral conducting:
- London Symphony Orchestra
- National Symphony
- Atlanta Symphony
- Los Angeles Philharmonic
- Dallas Symphony
- Houston Symphony
- Czech National Philharmonic Orchestra
- San Francisco Symphony
- San Diego Symphony
- Seattle Symphony
- Vancouver Symphony
- Detroit Symphony
- Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra
- Tokyo Philharmonic
- Sydney Symphony.