Nobuo Uematsu in Los Angeles

Nobuo Uematsu is a Japanese composer, born in 1959, whose music for the Final Fantasy series brought him to a worldwide audience. He wrote the scores for the first nine main entries in the series and contributed to later installments; “One-Winged Angel,” “Aerith’s Theme” and “To Zanarkand” are among his best-known compositions. The 2004 Tour de Japon presented his Final Fantasy music in orchestral concerts across Japan, while Dear Friends brought the repertoire to Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles that same year. Distant Worlds: music from FINAL FANTASY began in Stockholm in 2007 and became a long-running international concert series conducted by Arnie Roth, with Uematsu appearing at selected performances. In 2011, Symphonic Odysseys presented a full concert devoted to his music in Cologne.