« Distant Worlds: music from Final Fantasy »

With 15 instalments and as many or more auxiliary releases, Final Fantasy remains fantastic but shows no sign of finalizing anything. Over a third of a century, the video-game franchise has retained its place as an all-time great for gamers, a paradigm-shifter on par with Pac-Man and Pong. Unsurprisingly, its music has a Pavlovian emotional resonance for legions of gamers globally, particularly that of the revered Final Fantasy VII. Three years after their first spin through Montreal on the 20^th anniversary of that lucky seventh entry, Grammy winner Arnie Roth again unsheathes his might baton again and conducts the 100-piece Distant Worlds orchestra and choir through the game’s musical history, accompanied by projected visuals. VII’s sounds get a place of honour on the programme, but so do some numbers from the most recent Final Fantasy XV. These were composed by the concert’s special guest, Yoko Shimomura (pictured here), whose memorable, emotive melodies, and intrepid intermingling of classical and current pop, have placed her at the pinnacle of video-game soundtrack production.

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