Arnie Roth is a classically trained violinist and composer. He is known well in the video game community for his work as the musical director and conductor on concert tours like “Distant Worlds: Music from Final Fantasy” and many others from the “Final Fantasy” series. Media Mikes had a chance to chat with Arnie about the upcoming new concert tour “A New World: Intimate Music from Final Fantasy” and what we can expect.
Mike Gencarelli: Tell us what we can expect from “A New World: Intimate Music from Final Fantasy” concert?
Arnie Roth: This concert will have almost entirely different music titles from the Distant Worlds concert repertoire. The scores have been drawn from throughout the 25 years of Final Fantasy releases, with the decision made in consultation between myself, Nobuo Uematsu, SQEX, and our AWR Music Productions team. We especially tried to feature many of the most popular scores that we have not performed in the Distant Worlds concerts. Most importantly, this is a chamber music performance, meant to be enjoyed in an intimate setting and a superb acoustically designed space, such as LSO St Lukes. We are fortunate to have superb performers with us for this premiere, including the highly regarded Navarra String Quartet, the wonderful pianist known for his work with the music of Uematsu and Final Fantasy, Benyamin Nuss, and we will also feature Nobuo Uematsu and myself in a live performance of Final Fantasy VI: Dark World.
MG: How it will differ from the “Distant Worlds” tour?
AR: I have mentioned some of the differences above. The most obvious difference is certainly the scale of the event, as Distant Worlds features over 100 musicians on stage with video screens, performed in much larger venues. A New World: intimate music from Final Fantasy is an intimate chamber music concert, without video content, featuring exciting new arrangements and repertoire from throughout the Final Fantasy catalogue, presented in a much smaller venue, with 13 musicians.
MG: Do you have any plans to expand the “A New World” concert, perhaps a tour, after London?
AR: We hope to be able to make announcements about this subject very soon.
MG: Any chances you will make it back to Florida in 2014? May I suggest Orlando?
AR: We are in discussions for Distant Worlds: music from Final Fantasy performances in several locations in Florida. Your suggestion is duly noted!
