Nobuo Uematsu - Concerts

Concerts

Uematsu's video game compositions have been performed in numerous concerts, and various Final Fantasy concerts have also been held. Outside Japan, Uematsu's Final Fantasy music was performed live for the first time at the first event of the 2003 Symphonic Game Music Concert in Leipzig, Germany. Other events of the Symphonic Game Music Concerts featuring Final Fantasy music were held in 2004, 2006, and 2007. The concert in 2004 featured a world premiere of Those Who Fight from Final Fantasy VII. Japanese pianist Seiji Honda was invited to perform the arrangement together with the orchestra. Another world premiere was "Dancing Mad" from Final Fantasy VI, performed by orchestra, choir, and pipe organ. The event in 2007 included "Distant Worlds" from Final Fantasy XI, performed by Japanese opera soprano Izumi Masuda.

A series of successful concert performances were held in Japan, including a Final Fantasy concert series titled Tour de Japon. The first stateside concert, Dear Friends - Music from Final Fantasy, debuted on May 10, 2004 at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, California, and was performed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic orchestra and the Los Angeles Master Chorale. It was conducted by Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra director Miguel Harth-Bedoya. Due to a positive reception, a concert series for North America followed. On May 16, 2005, a follow-up concert called More Friends: Music from Final Fantasy was performed in Los Angeles at the Gibson Amphitheatre; the concert was conducted by Grammy Award-winning Arnie Roth.

Uematsu also made a guest appearance at A Night in Fantasia 2004 performed by the Eminence Symphony Orchestra's debut concert in October 2004 which coincided with his last day as a staff at Square Enix.

Uematsu's Final Fantasy music was presented in the concert Voices - Music from Final Fantasy, which took place on February 18, 2006 at the Pacifico Yokohama convention center. Star guests included Emiko Shiratori, Rikki, Izumi Masuda, and Angela Aki. The concert focused on the songs from the Final Fantasy series and was conducted by Arnie Roth. Uematsu and several of his fellow composers were in attendance at the world premiere of Play! A Video Game Symphony in Chicago, Illinois on May 27, 2006; he composed the opening fanfare for the concert. He also attended the European debut in Stockholm, Sweden on June 14, 2006, the performance in Toronto, Canada on September 30, 2006, and in Florence, Italy, on October 10, 2007. The world tour Distant Worlds: Music from Final Fantasy was held in Stockholm, and was performed by the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and conducted by Arnie Roth on December 4, 2007. The second concert of the tour was held at the Rosemont Theatre near Chicago on March 1, 2008. The tour has continued, with a recent concert in Houston, Texas on July 24, 2010. Music from Final Fantasy made up one fourth of the music in the Symphonic Fantasies concerts in Cologne in September 2009 which were produced by the creators of the Symphonic Game Music Concert series and conducted by Arnie Roth.

In February 2010, it was announced that Uematsu would appear at Anime Boston, one of the largest anime conventions on the East Coast. Uematsu did not only show up at Anime Boston, he made a surprise appearance and played with the Video Game Orchestra for the track One Winged Angel. On top of this, he made a short visit to the prestigious Berklee College of Music for a brief Q & A session at the request of VGO founder and Berklee alumni Shota Nakama.

In January 2012, Uematsu performed with his band Earthbound Papas at MAGFest X in National Harbor, MD.

On 24 November 2012, Uematsu performed in a Final Fantasy Distant Worlds concert with Arnie Roth conducting the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, Adelaide Philharmonia Chorus and soloists at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre.