The concert series Distant Worlds: Music from FINAL FANTASY will stop in Italy again this year, more precisely in February. Saturday 4 February 2023 at the Auditorium Parco della Musica, Sala Santa Cecilia in Rome the only Italian stage of the event will be held Distant Worlds: Music from FINAL FANTASY Coralwhich will see the participation of RIKKI (artist by Suteki from Ne, FINAL FANTASY X) and the composer Yoko Shimomura. The orchestra will once again be directed by the historic musician Arnie Rothan essential name for this series of concerts related to the JRPG saga of SQUARE ENIX.
We had the opportunity to ask Maestro Roth a few questions: find our interview below.
Interview with Arnie Roth
What was the spark that ignited the fire of music in her and that led her to embark on the career that we all now know and respect? At what age did you hold your first musical instrument? Is there a composer you were inspired by in shaping your compositional style? What are your favorite artists of yours and what work made you fall in love with music?
I started playing the violin at the age of 8 or 9 I think, and for most of my career I’ve mainly been a professional violinist. Through participating in concerts and recordings I began to work with a wide variety of artists, with many of these continually asking me to make new arrangements for them and later asking me to conduct live concerts. So I started to move more intensely into conducting and ended up concentrating on this field for a long time. This breadth of musical styles, genres, and media has contributed to a deep understanding of what it takes to shape music of many different types.
What prompted you to devote yourself with so much energy and commitment to animation and above all to videogames, rather than pursuing a traditional career in the music scene? How did you approach the world of entertainment aimed at a purely young audience?
I have always been passionate about various types of music, as well as the classical world. In addition to earning a Bachelor and Master of Music Performance from Northwestern University, I have also performed and recorded with rock bands, crossover artists, R&B, Jazz and so much more. This has proved to be very helpful for working in videogames, as there can be different musical styles in most videogames. And my studio work was a huge help when I started writing and composing for feature films.
His musical imprint, both for the rearrangements and in the drafting of original works, was decisive in decreeing the success of feature films starring Barbie, which are still remembered today by those who were then children above all for their soundtrack which, unlike of the visual sector, it will never get old. What is the most precious memory you hold of those years that you treasure every time you take the stage to conduct the Orchestra in Distant Worlds concerts?
This is very thoughtful and kind of you! She’s right when you say that the story and music of those Barbie movies are much more timeless classics than animation. Those were extremely difficult pieces to compose in time for deadlines. Animated films almost always use 60 or 70 minutes of music in total and in our case it’s even performances recorded entirely by an orchestra.
Q: What is your relationship with the composers who have contributed equally to the success of FINAL FANTASY over its 35-year history? Would you like to compose and produce original music for one of the next games in the series, or in general for a videogame product?
I’m really excited about the long and lasting relationship I have with SQUARE ENIX and with the series FINAL FANTASY. It’s been almost twenty years now! It was great to work with all the composers on the series, but with Nobuo Uematsu I have a particularly strong bond. We’ve worked together on a lot of video game music productions as well as FINAL FANTASY, and it’s very rewarding. Unfortunately, however, there are few series whose music is as important as that of FF. There are definitely a lot of music lovers from this franchise, and it’s always a joy to be able to perform these scores live for them.
Q: What is your relationship with videogames and in particular with the FINAL FANTASY saga? Have you ever had the chance to play one, is there one you are particularly attached to, not only in terms of music, but also in terms of story and gameplay?
I have a weakness for the music of FINAL FANTASY VI, VII and VIII, but in every game there are beautiful pieces. Slowly I’m discovering the scores of Masayoshi Soken for FFXIVa game that has been going on for a very long time and is extremely popular.
Q: How did you go from composing music for animated feature films to conducting the orchestra for one of the biggest and longest running tours in the world, Distant Worlds: Music from FINAL FANTASY? How did you find yourself dedicating yourself so closely to this saga, and more generally to video game soundtracks?
As Music Director of the Chicagoland Pops Orchestra I have been busy organizing concerts for the various seasons, when a colleague informed me that there would be FINAL FANTASY series concerts outside Japan. I took the opportunity and had the first concert in Chicago in February 2004, which was completely sold out, and there I met Nobuo Uematsu for the first time. From this point, the relationship with Nobuo-san and SQUARE ENIX began to develop. Dear Friends: music from FINAL FANTASY, More Friends: music from FINAL FANTASY, Voices: music from FINAL FANTASY, A New World: music from FINAL FANTASYand now we’re celebrating our 15th anniversary with Distant Worlds: music from FINAL FANTASY.
D: In addition to the canonical Distant Worlds, you have directed many other derivative and non-derivative concerts, such as the recent FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE Orchestra World Tour, or the one dedicated to NieR (which we would love to see in Italy). What would you like to do in the future? Are there any projects in the pipeline for which you can give us some small clues?
The next few years will be quite full of plans: between the 35th anniversary concerts in March, to record Distant Worlds VIwork on the next tour of NieR and to that of FF VII REBIRTHand more…
We thank Maestro Arnie Roth once again and remind you of the appointment on February 4th in Rome for this unmissable event.
#Interview #Arnie #Roth #Distant #Worlds #Music #FINAL #FANTASY