Distant Worlds

Let me begin by stating that the last video game I really ever enjoyed playing on a regular basis was ‘Pac-Man'. The little yellow man ate dots. A pretty simple game with a pretty simple theme song. Forward in time a couple decades and I was transported to a Distant World on March 1, 2008, standing amongst the sold out crowd of 4,400 teens and twenty-something's attending the Rosemont Theatre to hear the Chicagoland Pops Orchestra perform music from the smash pulp culture Japanese video game Final Fantasy. The Final Fantasy game series premiered in 1987 in Japan and currently has 16 titles.

Just as the stalwarts attending the CSO for a Bach or Mahler concert, or the Lyric for the Ring cycle, these attendees are definite aficionados on the genre, and of the composer Nobuo Uematsu, who was in attendance for the concert and had more groupies then a Hanna Montana concert.

So the big question is, does the music stand on its own outside of the game? The answer is a resounding, yes! The Chicagoland Pops Orchestra, which is one of the untapped treasures in the city, under the expert direction of conductor Arnie Roth, explodes Uematusu's music and vocals to the masses. Teamed with the Chicagoland Pops Orchestra Festival Choir and a video screen showing the various scenes of the game that correspond with the music, Roth got the most out of a cross-genre score which incorporates elements of classical, new-age and rock. This is the second time Roth has conducted Uematusu's work, the first being in 2005 with the Final Fantasy's Dear Friends concert and is right at home with the interpretation of the various pieces.

There are some remarkable and gorgeous pieces of music in this two hour piece including, Opera: "Maria and Draco", "Memoro de la Stono" and "Aerith's Theme". Uematusu certainly knows how to convey the games emotional climaxes through the music. Halfway through the concert, the combination of the video game and the music became like one. It was like watching a film with a great John Williams score. The music makes the piece.

Uematusu and Roth are to be commended for introducing a whole new generation to the great privilege of attending an orchestral concert. It is within the great proscenium space of the Rosemont Theatre that the Distant Worlds of orchestra music won over a whole new culture of fans.

For more information on upcoming Chicagoland Pops Orchestra concerts, please visit www.chicagolandpops.com

Pictured: Arnie Roth conducting Final Fantasy