Boecker on for Symphonic Fantasies concert

Coming up in September at the Philharmonic Hall in Cologne, Germany, Thomas Boecker is set for Symphonic Fantasies. It is a concert that will feature arrangements from Square-Enix titles Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts, Mana, and Crono series. We've also just learned that Kingdom Hearts and Square-Enix veteran composer Yoko Shimomura will be in attendance. Boecker was interviewd by SEMO earlier this year about the upcoming event; the following is an exerpt:

Chris: It's been announced that Jonne Valtonen is the arranger for Symphonic Fantasies. How will he approach the arrangements for this title and how long will he work on this project?

Thomas Boecker: It is hard to put in words how excited I am to have him doing all these arrangements! What he did for Symphonic Shades brought him a lot of praise from fans, the media, and from the WDR Radio Orchestra.

Jonne Valtonen will study the original music very, very carefully. This is what he did with Symphonic Shades as well: finding out what the original composers tried to express, what they felt when doing the compositions within the context of the games, etc. He will have full six months for his work, and he will be spending all his time on the arrangements. We are very proud that we have such amazing conditions for producing our concerts!



Chris: The diverse and complex arrangements of Symphonic Fantasies sound difficult to perform. Are Arnie Roth and the WDR Radio Orchestra up for the challenge once again?

Thomas Boecker: We will have a very good amount of rehearsal time, even more than we had for Symphonic Shades. You hardly can find such conditions in the world of video game music concerts. I would even go so far to say that Symphonic Fantasies will have the biggest amount of rehearsal time ever.

Furthermore, the WDR Radio Orchestra is a stunning ensemble, one of the best I ever worked with, so I have not the slightest concern that there might be problems. Same as for Symphonic Shades, it is the combination of original music/arrangement quality, amount of rehearsal time, and orchestra quality that make the WDR productions outstanding.

Chris: Your past concerts have been made even more memorable thanks to the attendance of special guests. Is it possible some famous Square Enix composers could attend Symphonic Fantasies too? Might there even be a meet and greet?

Thomas Boecker: We are going to make a few announcements later, but yes — I can officially confirm that three famous composers will be in attendance. And yes, there will be a Meet and Greet, probably before the actual concert starts, that will be free of charge. More details will be announced shortly.

You can read the full article here.

SOURCES: Square Enix Music Online