FINAL FANTASY® COMPOSER NOBUO UEMATSU TO ATTEND JULY 9–11 PERFORMANCES

FINAL FANTASY® COMPOSER NOBUO UEMATSU TO ATTEND JULY 9–11 PERFORMANCES

Tickets Available for Special Meet and Greet Event with Famed Video Game Composer
Productions:

Distant Worlds: Music from FINAL FANTASY
Final Fantasy Composer Reception

Seattle, WA – Widely considered to be the John Williams of video games, composer Nobuo Uematsu will attend all three performances of Distant Worlds: Music from Final Fantasy®. Audience members will also have the opportunity to meet Uematsu in person in a separate ticketed post-concert event in the Norcliffe Founders Room. Performances of Distant Worlds: Music from Final Fantasy® will take place Thursday, July 9, at 7:30 p.m.; Friday, July 10, at 8 p.m.; and Saturday, July 11, at 8 p.m.

Audience members have the opportunity to meet Nobuo Uematsu in person immediately following each of Seattle Symphony’s Final Fantasy® performances. These special meet and greet events will take place in the Norcliffe Founders Room at Benaroya Hall and are limited to 100 people each night. Tickets for the meet and greet are $100 and do not include the concert. They can be purchased by calling the Seattle Symphony Ticket Office at (206) 215-4747.

Nobuo Uematsu
Nobuo Uematsu is one of the most celebrated composers in the video game field. He has achieved global recognition for his work on the Final Fantasy® series and his music has been performed by some of the world’s best orchestras. Uematsu is recognized as a major contributor in the increasing appreciation and awareness of video game music. The "Final Fantasy VIII" theme song "Eyes on Me,” featured Hong Kong pop star Faye Wong and sold a record 400,000 copies. It also won "Song of the Year” (Western Music) at the 14th Annual Japan Gold Disc Awards in 1999, marking the first time that music from a video game received this illustrious honor. Uematsu was recently named one of the "Innovators" in Time Magazine's "Time 100: The Next Wave in Music " feature.

Distant Worlds: Music from Final Fantasy® with Seattle Symphony
Audiences are invited to celebrate the sounds of Final Fantasy® with three performances by Seattle Symphony featuring music from the popular video game series. A giant video screen will display video and art stills synchronized with the music. The program will highlight the music of Nobuo Uematsu, one of the most celebrated composers in the video game field, who has achieved global recognition for his work on the Final Fantasy® series.

Arnie Roth
Arnie Roth is a Grammy Award–winning artist known for his work with performers such as Diana Ross, Charlotte Church, Peter Cetera, Art Garfunkel, the Irish Tenors and Dennis DeYoung. Roth has conducted the London Symphony Orchestra, the National Symphony, the Atlanta Symphony, the Hollywood Bowl Philharmonic, the Dallas Symphony, the Houston Symphony and the BBC Symphony. Roth served as the Music Director and Conductor for Dear Friends, and More Friends Concerts–Music from Final Fantasy®. He has produced and conducted music for many films, and has produced dozens of best-selling CDs, released on American Gramophone, JVC, Mattel, Warner Bros., Sony, Koch, and Razor & Tie. Roth received the award for Best Score at the 2003 DVD Premier Awards.

Concert Ticket Information
Tickets from $17 to $85 can be purchased by calling the Seattle Symphony Ticket Office at (206) 215-4747 or toll-free at (866) 833-4747, faxing the Symphony at (206) 215-4748, ordering online at www.seattlesymphony.org with the Select Your Own Seat option, or visiting the Seattle Symphony Ticket Office in Benaroya Hall at Third Avenue & Union Street, Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturday, 1 to 6 p.m.

Subscriptions are now available for the 2009–2010 season. For group sales information, call (206) 215-4784. Student and senior rush discount tickets, subject to availability, go on sale in person at the Seattle Symphony Ticket Office at 6 p.m. prior to evening performances and two hours prior to afternoon performances.

*Program
SYMPHONY SUMMER
DISTANT WORLDS: MUSIC FROM FINAL FANTASY® WITH SEATTLE SYMPHONY

Thursday, July 9, at 7:30 p.m. (Just Added!)
Friday, July 10, 2009 at 8 p.m.
Saturday, July 11, 2009 at 8 p.m.
S. Mark Taper Foundation Auditorium
Benaroya Hall

Arnie Roth, conductor
Seattle Symphony

NOBUO UEMATSU: Music from Final Fantasy®

* All programs and artists subject to change. Photos of guest artists will be sent in a separate email following this release. Additional photos of guest artists and Seattle Symphony are available to the media on request.