‘Distant Worlds: Music from Final Fantasy’ to fill Playhouse Square theater with game compositions

As an original member of Mannheim Steamroller, Arnie Roth has a vivid memory of performing with the new-age outfit at Jacobs Pavilion at Nautica. The experience, while alarming to him, is somewhat familiar to unsuspecting artists enjoying the Cuyahoga River venue.

“I remember playing a concert there when all of a sudden I saw everyone from the audience pointing behind us,” said Grammy Award-winner Roth, calling from Chicago.

“I turned around to see this gigantic freighter ship coming down the Cuyahoga right behind us. That sticks in my mind. Nobody prepped us. It was fantastic, just a massive ship coming down that river.”

Roth’s alarming memory acts as a perfect metaphor for his work conducting a world-renowned orchestra playing video game music.

Nobody prepped Roth, or for that matter the classical-music-loving public, for the unique phenomenon that comes to Northeast Ohio when the Distant Worlds Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus presents “Distant Worlds: Music from Final Fantasy” June 16 at Playhouse Square’s KeyBank State Theatre.

On the surface, classical music fans and “Final Fantasy” gamers may seem a bit divergent — as in, never the twain shall meet. However, music has a funny way of uniting folks, which is exactly what’s been taking place for the past decade.

“‘Final Fantasy’ composer Nobuo Uematsu 30 years ago decided he’d write separate music themes for every single character in the game, every battle, every romantic relationship, every environment and every quest,” Roth said. “So consequently, you’re talking about thousands of hours of music for each one of these games.

“There are now 15 distinct ‘Final Fantasy’ games and many offshoots. Each one has this incredibly rich vocabulary of music. The point being, there’s not a huge amount of video games out there that have this kind of rich musical vocabulary.”

Concert goers can expect to hear material from “Final Fantasy X: Zanarkand,” “Final Fantasy XV: Apocalypsis Noctis,” “Final Fantasy VII: Cosmo Canyon” and more. The performance featuring more than 100 musicians on stage is a multimedia affair accompanied by HD video direct from video game producer Square Enix.

“It’s a completely live-music experience,” Roth said.

Over the years, the secret has gotten out to classical-music world, which proved to be quite the hurdle considering classical enthusiasts are fiercely loyal and protective of the repertoire, as well as snobbish of the source material.

“I think it definitely has turned at this point,” Roth said. “I’d say the first few years of doing video game music concerts in North America and Europe, you would run into more of that attitude from certain classical musicians digging their heels in. Early on, there was a reticence for anything other than the uber classical repertoire showing up on the stages of the major concert halls.

“But once people have experienced the ‘Final Fantasy’ audience, fan base and their appreciation for the actual live performance of the music, I have never run into a negative attitude after the first year or so of introducing it around the world. It’s music written with a classical structure and that’s appreciated.”

‘Distant Worlds: Music From Final Fantasy’

When: 8 p.m. June 16.

Where: Playhouse Square’s KeyBank State Theatre, 1519 Euclid Ave., Cleveland.

Tickets: $42 to $105.50.

Info: 216-241-6000 or PlayhouseSquare.org.

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