DETROIT SMYPHONY ORCHESTRA TO DRAW VIDEO GAME ENTHUSIASTS WITH MUSIC FROM FINAL FANTASY
DETROIT, (June 4, 2009) - To commemorate the 20th anniversary of Final Fantasy and the music from this best-selling, world-wide video game franchise, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) and conductor Arnie Roth will feature a one-night special concert titled Distant Worlds: music from Final Fantasy on June 18 at 8 p.m. in Orchestra Hall.
The program features the orchestrated music of composer and musician Nobuo Uematsu from games throughout the Final Fantasy series as well as a world premiere of the new score The Man with the Machine Gun!, a piece written by Uematsu and arranged by Roth. During the performance, videos from the games' most memorable sequences will be projected on a screen above the stage. Guest artists for the performance include Detroit native, recording artist and featured soprano, Susan Calloway; Tina Sandor Bunce, mezzo-soprano; Matthew Eldred, tenor; Sean Cooper, bass-baritone; and the Stoney Creek High School Chamber Singers under the direction of Brandon Ulrich.
Music Director and Principal Conductor of the Chicagoland Pops Orchestra, Arnie Roth is a Grammy Award-winning artist known for his work with performers such as Il Divo, Diana Ross, Jewel, The Irish Tenors, Charlotte Church, Peter Cetera and Dennis DeYoung. Roth has conducted the London, Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, BBC, San Francisco, San Diego, Winnipeg, Sydney and the National Symphony orchestras, as well as the Hollywood Bowl, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Czech National Chamber Orchestra, the Joffrey Ballet of Chicago, the Ravinia Festival Orchestra, the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and the Tokyo Philharmonic.
Roth is well-known in the world of video game music for his work with Nobuo Uematsu and Square Enix as Music Director and conductor of "Dear Friends: music from Final Fantasy;" "More Friends: music from Final Fantasy;" and "Voices: music from Final Fantasy" as well as his role as Music Director and conductor of "Play! A Video Game Symphony." He was the winner of the Best Score Award at the 2003 DVD Premier Awards for his score for the film BarbieTM as Rapunzel, and was nominated for an Emmy in 2007 for his original song "Shine" from the movie BarbieTM in The Twelve Dancing Princesses.
Up-and-coming recording artist Susan Calloway first turned record industry heads last year when many of her songs were featured on popular WB television shows. Her energetic live performances and exceptional vocal style have won her a fan base all over the U.S.
Originally from Detroit, Calloway is an accomplished pianist, rhythm guitar player and producer. She is currently in the studio working on her first full length CD, scheduled for release this fall.
Since her professional debut nearly twenty years ago, Tina Sandor Bunce has garnered a reputation, both here and abroad, for her rich mezzo voice, musicality and astounding versatility of repertoire. Primarily known for her work in oratorio and on the concert stage, she has excelled as a soloist in performances of many of the great works for choir and orchestra, including the Verdi Requiem, Handel Messiah, Mendelssohn Elijah, Mozart Requiem, and the St. John and St. Matthew Passions of J.S. Bach. She has also sung many major works of the 20th century, including the music of Duruflé, Vaughan Williams and Copland.
A proponent of the music of our time, Bunce has made numerous appearances as a guest soloist on the annual New Music & Art Festival at Bowling Green State University, at the Heidelburg University New Music Festival and was the solo mezzo-soprano in the world premiere of the intermedia-dance-opera Lives in Crisis: Jesus' Daughter by Burton Beerman. A video version has been presented at various international video festivals, including the 1998 "Dance on Camera I" festival at New York's Museum of Modern Art and Lincoln Center.
Matthew Eldred is a senior at Michigan State University majoring in Vocal Performance and currently holds the Helen Tretheway Endowment for Voice. Recent leading roles with the MSU Opera Theater have included Ramiro in Rossini's La Cenerentola and Governor/Ragotski in Candide as well as recent solo performances at the Shenyang Conservatory of Music in China. Eldred has been engaged by the Lansing Concert Band, Kalamazoo and Lansing Symphony orchestras and MSU Philharmonic as tenor soloist for works ranging from J.S. Bach's St. John Passion to Handel's Messiah.
Bass-baritone Sean Cooper has appeared as Colline in the Broadway cast of Baz Luhrmann's La Bohème. He has also sung the role in San Francisco, New York, New Hampshire, North Carolina, and Guam. Cooper has performed such roles as Figaro in Le Nozze di Figaro, Leporello in Don Giovanni, Truffaldino in Ariadne auf Naxos, Il Re in Aida, Betto in Gianni Schicchi, Pirate King in Pirates of Penzance, Speaker in The Emperor of Atlantis, Sarastro in The Magic Flute, Seneca in L'Incoronazione di Poppea, and David in Barber's A Hand of Bridge.
Concert performances include the title roles in Mendelssohn's Elijah and St. Paul, Raphael in Haydn's The Creation, Jesus in Bach's St. John Passion, Priest/Angel in Elgar's The Dream of Gerontius, the bass soloist in Handel's Messiah, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, Schubert's Mass in C Major, Bach's Magnificat, the Fauré Requiem, and several of the Bach cantatas.
Cooper has performed with such companies as the Memphis, Pittsburgh and Toledo Symphony orchestras, as well as the Opera Carolina, Opera Memphis, Pittsburgh Opera, Opera Theatre of Pittsburgh, Opera North, Liederkranz Opera, Opera Theatre of Guam, Sacramento Choral Society, and Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera.
The Choirs at Stoney Creek High School have earned a reputation of excellence throughout the state, earning consistent superior ratings at district and state festivals. The choirs perform with the Detroit and Rochester Symphony orchestras on a regular basis, and have also performed with the Detroit Chamber Winds, at the Michigan Opera House and were the choral forces for the Canadian Premiere of Play! at the Hummingbird Centre (Toronto) in 2006. The Chamber Singers have been invited to perform at the 2006, 2007 and 2009 Michigan Music Conferences. Choral students from Stoney Creek have won significant performance competitions including Youth Arts Festival Soloist nominations, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra Idol Competitions and NATS Competitions. Stoney Creek students have earned places in numerous all-state ensembles, are featured in national touring companies and Broadway shows, and many have gone on to study music at the collegiate level. The Stoney Creek Choirs are under the direction of Brandon Ulrich, Eric Kausch and Traci Bartell.
Tickets to Final Fantasy range in price from $25 to $65 with a limited number of box seats available for $75. Tickets may be purchased at the Max M. Fisher Music Center box office (3711 Woodward Ave., Detroit); by calling (313) 576-5111; or online at www.detroitsymphony.com. Seniors (60 and over) and students with a valid student ID can purchase 50% off RUSH tickets at the box office 90 minutes prior to concerts based on availability. For group discount information (10 people or more), please contact Chuck Dyer at (313) 576-5130 or cdyer@dso.org.
PERFORMANCES
Special Event
DISTANT WORLDS: MUSIC FROM FINAL FANTASY
Orchestra Hall
Detroit Symphony Orchestra
Arnie Roth, conductor; Susan Calloway, soprano; Tina Sandor Bunce, mezzo-soprano; Matthew Eldred, tenor; Sean Cooper, bass-baritone; Stoney Creek High School Chamber Singers, Brandon Ulrich, director
Thu., June 18 at 8 p.m.
Selections to be announced from stage.