Fantasy Comes Alive - Video Games and Anime in Concert in Singapore

FANTASY COMES ALIVE! celebrates the rich musical legacy of video games and anime, bringing the greatest soundtracks from console and screen into the concert hall for a ‘live’ performance by a symphonic chamber orchestra.

Experience your favourite soundtracks from classic 8-bit video game series to today's greatest, including music from Granado Espada, Final Fantasy, Echochrome, Chrono Cross, Super Mario Brothers, Tetris, Megaman as well as masterpieces from anime such as My Neighbour Totoro, Tsubasa Chronicle, Neon Genesis Evangelion and Howl's Moving Castle just to name a few! Accompanied by on screen footage from the games and anime, FANTASY COMES ALIVE! promises to be a nostalgic and unforgettable concert experience for the young and the young at heart.

Our special guest is renowned video game and anime composer HITOSHI SAKIMOTO, best known for scoring the games Final Fantasy XII, Final Fantasy Tactics, Valkyria Chronicles, Odin Sphere as well as the animes Romeo x Juliet and The Tower of Druaga.

For ticketing and more information please visit: www.fantasycomesalive.com

TWO SHOWS ONLY
April 30 & May 1 2010, 8:00pm
University Cultural Centre Hall (NUS Centre For The Arts)
Singapore

Relive the magic of video games and anime through the soul of music ... FANTASY COMES ALIVE!

Special Guest: Hitoshi Sakimoto

With his acclaimed musical and versatile stylings, Hitoshi Sakimoto is one of the most sought out composers in the video games industry.

Whether it's the early sounds of gaming in the 1980's, or the live orchestral scores for some of todays largest selling game series, Sakimoto Is recognised as an Industry pioneer, helping to shape the face of video gaming music.

Best known for his work on Final Fantasy XII, and Final Fantasy Tactics, Sakimoto has so far worked on over 150 projects, ranging from video games, animated series and CD releases.

Beginning his video game music career at the age of 16, Sakimoto first gained attention in the industry through his work on the game 'Revolter', as well as the sound driver 'Terpsiphorean'; an unparalleled synthesizer driver which was implemented into many games throughout the Japanese game market In the early '90s. This recognition led to many game designers and companies recruiting Mr. Sakimoto to compose and arrange music for their projects.

Working as a freelance artist, Sakimoto scored many games inducing 'Magical Chase', 'Ogre Battle', 'Super Back to the Future II', 'Gradius V, Legaia 2: Duel Saga', Tekken Advance', 'Vagrant Story', 'Radiant Silvergun' and many others...

But amongst these, his first notable title on an International scale came when he and co-composer Masaharu Iwata created the score to Square-Enix's 'Final Fantasy Tactics'. Praised by fans and critics alike, various sequels and soundtracks to the game would soon follow, as well as another offer from Square Enix, to compose the entire soundtrack for the Inevitable 'Final Fantasy XII'.

Having contributed more than 4 hours of music for FFXII, the game was released worldwide in 2006, and received a perfect score from Famitsu magazine. Because of Sakimoto's worldwide exposure, his new company Basiscape, was expanded as a result of demand for his compositions. It is now regarded as the largest independent video game music production company In Japan.

Sakimoto's works have been performed live by 'PLAY! A Video Game Symphony' as well as various events featuring the Eminence Symphony Orchestra.

Since the formation of Basiscape, Sakimoto and his team have worked on several high profile titles such as Odin Sphere, Opoona, ASH -Archaic Sealed Heat-, Valkyria Chronicles and more Final Fantasy spinoffs. He also composed the complete orchestral soundtrack to the Japanese anime 'Romeo x Juliet' in 2007, and recently completed the score for the anime 'The Tower of Druaga'.

Music Director: Adrian Tan

Adrian Tan (b. 1977) graduated with honours in Theatre Studies from the National University of Singapore. His significant participation in Music and Theatre has distinguished him as a unique multi- disciplinary artist with an impressive repertoire of work and achievements in Singapore and overseas. He graduated with honours in Theatre Studies from the National University of Singapore. He studied conducting with Harold Farberman, Robert Gutter and Ovidiu Balan, and also participated in masterclasses in wind and choral conducting by Jan Cober and Hans Leenders respectively.

He was awarded a Sydney Conservatorium of Music Faculty Scholarship to pursue a Masters degree in conducting studying with Imre Pallo. Adrian has led wind bands and orchestras at the community as well as professional levels. He actively champions the music of Singaporean composers and has presented premieres of compositions by Singaporean composers Americ Goh, Zechariah Goh Toh Chai, Ho Chee Kong and Phoon Yew Tien. In 2005, Adrian co-presented and performed with the Paradigm Ensemble in “Concert for Hope”, a fund-raising concert for the victims of the Asian Earthquake and Tsunami Victims. The event was also televised on Arts Central and raised more than a $30,000 for the cause. In the same year, he formed and directed the New Festival Orchestra to perform Rachmaninoff's 2nd and 3rd Piano Concertos with renowned pianist Tedd Joselson in the 30th Anniversary of his professional debut. In 2006, he had his debut with the Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra (VNSO) for an all-Tchaikovsky program with Chinese violin prodigy Tang Yun (from the Chen Kaige movie “Together”) in a gala concert at the Hanoi Opera House. He has been invited to return as a regular guest conductor with the VNSO every year since. Other guest conducting appearances include performances with the Victoria Chorale, VJC String Ensemble, National Technological University String Orchestra, Braddell Heights Symphony Orchestra (Singapore) and the Filharmonica “Mihail Jora” di Bacau (Romania). Adrian is one of the founding members of the Chamber Music Society of Singapore, and has produced a series of chamber music concerts featuring local talents like Chan Yoong Han, Jin Li and Fredi Sonderegger – as well as “Passion”, a concert of video game and anime music featuring Eminence (Australia) which sold out Victoria Concert Hall to a wildly enthusiastic young audience.

Also active in theatre, Adrian's major achievements in theatre include directing the premiere of Alfian Sa'at's The Optic Trilogy for ACTION Theatre's 2nd 42 Theatre Festival, and numerous Life! Theatre Award nominations for his productions Ghost Opera and Pulau (a collaboration with writer Ng How Wee) in 2003 and 2006 respectively. He has been the producer of the highly popular Chestnuts series since 2003 - the annual productions continue to garner rave reviews from audiences and critics alike. In 2008, he directed new plays by Ng Swee San and Dora Tan for Magdalena (Singapore) as part of the OCBC Singapore Theatre Festival. An avid film enthusiast, Adrian proudly created his first short film Stranger in collaboration with Boo Junfeng in 2004, and it was selected as a finalist for the 18th Singapore International Film Festival Silver Screen Awards (Short Film).

Engagements in 2009/2010 include guest conducting appearances with the new music ensemble VOLTA (Australia) premiering 4 new works by young Australian Composers, the Beecroft Orchestra (Australia), the Waverly Bondi Beach Band and return engagements with the Filharmonica “Mihail Jora” di Bacau, Braddell Heights Symphony Orchestra and the Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra in 2010. Adrian will also serve as Assistant Chorus Master of the Willoughby Symphony Choir in 2010.