After this weekend's #DistantWorlds concert, my little brother and I had the honor of meeting renowned Japanese video game composer, Nobou Uematsu (furthest right), the musical genius behind the beloved music of the Final Fantasy series . I'd experienced the brilliance of Distant Worlds back in 2010 in DC, but Nobou Uematsu wasn't in attendance . I was shaking the entire time we were in line to meet him . I'd never been that starstruck . I had lost my voice the night before, but was able to summon just enough of it to shake his hand and say, "Thank you Nobou-san. It is an absolute honor to meet you. Your music has touched my life more than you know." Speaking to one of your childhood heroes 12 years later.. is unreal. The Final Fantasy games—especially thanks to this man's music—were a cherished part of my little brother and I's childhood . I can sincerely say I would not be the same person I am today if I hadn't fallen in love with those stories, characters, and utterly spectacular soundtracks . It may seem strange or silly to the uninitiated, but these games were so much more than "just games" . Those characters were like my friends growing up . I felt their joy, their fear, their anger, their sorrow, and their love . And the music always paired impeccably along every narrative twist and turn, and opened my mind to sounds that I never anticipated to appreciate . The venue shared this quote by Alphonse de Lamartine before the show commenced, "“Music is the literature of the heart; it commences where speech ends.” — and that notion couldn't be captured any more perfectly by the the wonder and nostalgia that Nobou Uematsu's music instilled in me from when I was 11 years old, until today . That is a feeling that few artists have and could ever hope to accomplish . So thank you again (from right to left) to Arnie Roth for conducting an evening of magic with a spectacular orchestra, to Susan Calloway and Rikki for blessing us with your angelic voices, and most of all, to Nobou Uematsu, for making music that has held such a special place in my heart for more than half of my life thus far—and for many more years to come . (at New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC))
