A New World celebrates its 10th anniversary at The Town Hall!
SATURDAY AUGUST 24, 2024
Masashi Hamauzu Composer in attendance
Eric Roth Music Director
The Harlem Chamber Players Ha att
SATURDAY, AUGUST 24, 2024 • 8:00PM
A NEW WORLD: INTIMATE MUSIC FROM FINAL FANTASY
Eric Roth, conductor
Masashi Hamauzu, special guest composer
The Harlem Chamber Players
Adrienne Baker, flute/piccolo
Christopher Bush, clarinet/shaker
Wayne DuMaine, trumpet
Scott Still, drum set/percussion
Justin Rothberg, classical guitar
Ashley Horne, violin
Cyrus Beroukhim, violin
Nicole Wright, viola
Wayne Smith, cello
Anthony Morris, contrabass
Amir Farid, piano
Welcome! And, may I add, congratulations. You are attending one of New York’s and America’s essential meeting houses, music venues and cultural institutions. I know that you will find the Town Hall Presents programming you are attending tonight to be timely and compelling. And each of our productions is an expression of our commitment to bring you significant, unique, eclectic and down right delightful events throughout the calendar year.
There is no place like The Town Hall. Founded “to promote good citizenship, social justice and general enlightenment through the education and expression of public opinion,” our hall’s world-class acoustics quickly became a calling card, and for over a century, playing The Town Hall stage continues to be a ‘must’ for musicians and singers from all genres and backgrounds.
Whether visiting our storied auditorium for the first time, or returning to experience yet another great night live on our stage, you can feel the vitality in the room. The Town Hall is truly contemporary; purpose-built to open its doors to art, ideas and especially to you.
Upon its dedication in 1921, The League for Political Education opened the building you are now sitting in with the watchwords:
“It does not matter who you are, what you are, or from where you come, you are welcome.”
As president of the non-profit organization that preserves our landmarked auditorium and produces the Town Hall Presents events like the one you are attending tonight, I thank you for coming to The Town Hall. On behalf of the Board of Trustees, and our incredible staff of professionals, I echo the sentiment of our founders and assure you that you are always welcome here.
Nevin Steinberg
A New World: intimate music from FINAL FANTASY delivers incomparable chamber music arrangements of themes from throughout the FINAL FANTASY series.
This beloved music from composers Nobuo Uematsu, Masashi Hamauzu, Naoshi Mizuta, Hitoshi Sakimoto, Tetsuya Shibata, Yoko Shimomura, and Masayoshi Soken are performed by The New World Players, led by Eric Roth of AWR Music Productions. In its first ten years, A New World has performed hundreds of concerts for spellbound audiences on four continents and released three volumes of recorded music.
With a transparent and intimate format and an astounding variety of musical textures, the A New World experience is fresh every time, drawing audiences deeper into the musical worlds of FINAL FANTASY. These special arrangements, created with the cooperation of the composers, are by Arnie and Eric Roth, Shiro Hamaguchi, Naoshi Mizuta, Tsutomu Narita, and Chris Opperman.
From the partnership behind Distant Worlds: music from FINAL FANTASY, A New World: intimate music from FINAL FANTASY is an exclusive, officially licensed production with renowned video game developer SQUARE ENIX.
For more info, please see www.ffnewworld.com.
AWR Music’s Eric Roth is a formidable musical force: a music director/conductor, an orchestrator/arranger, a producer of concerts and recordings, a composer of original music, and much more.
In addition to being the music director and chief arranger for A New World: intimate music from FINAL FANTASY, he is also the associate music director and an orchestrator/arranger for Distant Worlds: music from FINAL FANTASY, the global live orchestral performance phenomenon. Recent tours as a conductor and/or music director include NieR:Orchestra Concert 12024 [the end of data], FINAL FANTASY VII REBIRTH Orchestra World Tour, Genshin Concert, The Beach Boys Holiday Vibrations Orchestra Tour, and the “Weird” Al Strings Attached Tour.
Additional orchestration/arranging credits include two best-selling Mannheim Steamroller Christmas Symphony albums, the Pat Benatar/ Neil Giraldo orchestra production with the Pittsburgh Symphony, KC and the Sunshine Band with the Memphis Symphony, Five For Fighting orchestra and string quartet productions, Twelve Doors: Tribute to Noriyuki Iwadare, and many others.
ABOUT THE HARLEM CHAMBER PLAYERS
The Harlem Chamber Players is an ethnically diverse collective of professional musicians dedicated to bringing high caliber, affordable, accessible live music to people in the Harlem community and beyond.
Founded in 2008, The Harlem Chamber Players annually presents a rich season of formal live concerts, indoors, outdoors, and online. They also promote arts inclusion and equal access to the arts, bringing live music to underserved communities and promoting shared community arts and cultural engagement. The group was first inspired by the late Janet Wolfe, a long-time patron of minority musicians and founder
of the NYC Housing Authority Symphony Orchestra. The Harlem Chamber Players have presented culturally relevant programs at numerous venues throughout the city and collaborated with many other arts organizations. The Harlem Chamber Players are also Artistsin-residence at the Harlem School of the Arts.
They have been featured on national radio on WQXR as well as The Greene Space at WQXR and WNYC. The Harlem Chamber Players have also been mentioned in articles in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, Musical America, and on NPR, NBC, and Here and Now on ABC. The Harlem Chamber Players were awarded the 2022 Sam Miller Award for the Performing Arts.
To learn more about Harlem Chamber Players, please visit their website harlemchamberplayers.org
ABOUT MASASHI HAMAUZU
Composer Masashi Hamauzu grew up in a musical environment and developed a passion for video game music through Koichi Sugiyama’s work on the Dragon Quest series. Early on in his career at SQUARE ENIX, he was a singer in the eight-person chorus recording for Nobuo Uematsu’s legendary “One-Winged Angel” in FINAL FANTASY VII. Hamauzu created new music for FINAL FANTASY X including “Besaid” and “Blitz Off.” He was the sole composer for FINAL FANTASY XIII, using an impressive variety of aesthetics, including the sweeping cinematics of “The Promise” and “Dust to Dust,” and a range of styles as in “The Yaschas Massif” and “The Archylte Steppe.” He also worked on FINAL FANTASY XIII-2 and Lightning Returns: FINAL FANTASY XIII. Most recently, he was one of the primary composers on the universally acclaimed games FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE and FINAL FANTASY VII REBIRTH
THE TOWN HALL FOUNDATION
The Town Hall’s mission is to provide affordable world-class entertainment by new and established artists to a diverse audience; to inspire the youth of our community to appreciate and participate in the arts at The Town Hall and in schools through our Education Outreach Program; and to preserve and enhance The Town Hall as a historic landmark venue for the enjoyment and cultural enrichment of generations to come.
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
PRESIDENT
Nevin Steinberg
PRESIDENT EMERITUS
Tom Wirtshafter
Marvin Leffler
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT
Susan Zohn
VICE PRESIDENT & GENERAL COUNSEL
Ellen Miller-Wachtel
TRUSTEES
Teniola Adedipe
Anne Frank-Shapiro
Frederick Gabriel
Gita Gupte
John A. Jenkins
Natalie Wexler
James Shackelford
Madhu Southworth
LIFE TRUSTEES
Phyllis Putter Barasch
Mary Dettling-Wright
Bruce S. Leffler
THE TOWN HALL STAFF
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Ted Lambert
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Melay Araya
DIRECTOR OF MARKETING
Jeff Mann
DIRECTOR OF MEMBERSHIP, SUBSCRIPTIONS AND ADMINISTRATION
Helen Morris
DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT
Donna Banks, PhD
DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION
Taione Martinez
DIRECTOR OF BOOKING AND EVENTS
Paul Cameron Hardy
PRODUCTION MANAGER
Carl Acampora
PUBLICIST
Cindy Byram
VICE PRESIDENT
Rita Robbins
TREASURER
Joan Rall
SECRETARY
Timothy Stambaugh
ADVISORY COUNCIL
Kathleen Rosenberg, Chair
Nancy Berman
Sandy Horowitz
Elizabeth Iannizzi
Candace Leeds
Zita Rosenthal
Rhoda Rothkopf
ARTS IN EDUCATION
ADVISORY COUNCIL
Michael Fram, Co-Chair
Dr. Eloise Messineo, Co-Chair
Barbara Murray
Dr. Pola Rosen
George Young
WARNING
The photographing or sound recording of any performance or the possession of any device for such photographing or sound recording inside the theatre without the written permission of the management is prohibited by law. Violators may be punished by ejection and violations may render the offender liable for monetary damages.
FIRE NOTICE
The exit indicated by a red light and sign nearest to the seat you occupy is the shortest route to the street. In the event of fire or other emergency please do not run, WALK TO THAT EXIT. Thoughtless persons annoy patrons and endanger the safety of others by lighting matches or smoking in prohibited areas during the performances and intermissions. This violates a city ordinance and is punishable by law.
-FIRE COMMISSIONER
DIRECTORY OF THEATRE SERVICES
ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICES: 212.997.1003
Mon-Fri 9:30 am to 5 pm, for rental & membership info
TECHNICAL DIRECTOR
Bill Dehling
SR. DIGITAL MEDIA MANAGER
Alex Koveos
PROGRAMMING MANAGER
Gloria Lee
ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT
Britni Montalbano
BOX OFFICE MANAGER
Angel Rodriguez
CHIEF ENGINEER
Steve Franqui
HOUSE MANAGER
Johnny Lee Green
GRAPHIC DESIGNER
Dennis Rakauckas
BOX OFFICE: 212.840.2824 Mon-Sat 12 noon to 6pm. 24/7 Recording
TICKETMASTER: 800.982.2787 to charge tickets by phone.online Ticketmaster.com
LOST AND FOUND: 212.997.0113
CELL PHONE POLICY
Cell phones should be silenced prior to the performance as a courtesy to the performers and audience.
LOBBY REFRESHMENT BY Theatre Refreshment Company of NY
MAJOR GIFTS, CORPORATE, FOUNDATION & GOVERNMENT SUPPORT
This program is supported, in part, by public funds from The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. Town Hall’s Education Outreach Program is made possible, in part, by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature. The Centennial Concert Series is funded, in part, by Howard Gilman Foundation. We would like to thank the following foundations, corporations, and government institutions for their support:
American Portfolios
Axe-Houghton Foundation
Bank of America
Consolidated Edison Company of New York
Edythe Kenner Foundation
Gund Investment Corporation
Henry Nias Foundation
Howard Gilman Foundation
The Hyde & Watson Foundation
The IV Fund
National Endowment for the Arts
New York City Department of Cultural Affairs
New York State Council on the Arts
ABOUT
New York State Governor Kathy Hochul
New York City Mayor Eric L. Adams
Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine
New York City Council Member Keith Powers
New York City Council Member Gale Brewer
New York City Council Member Julie Menin
New York City Council Member Sandy Nurse
New York City Council Member Kalman Yeger
NYC Dept. Cultural Affairs Commissioner Laurie Cumbo
Rea Charitable Trust
The Shubert Foundation
Ticketmaster
THE HISTORIC TOWN HALL
As of Jan 31, 2024
Town Hall has played an integral part in the electrifying cultural fabric of New York City for more than 100 years. A group of Suffragists’ fight for the 19th Amendment led them to build a meeting space to educate people on the important issues of the day. During its construction, the 19th Amendment was passed, and on January 12, 1921 The Town Hall opened its doors and took on a double meaning: as a symbol of the victory won by its founders, and as a spark for a new, more optimistic climate. In 1921, German composer Richard Strauss performed a series of concerts that cemented the Hall’s reputation as an ideal venue for musical performances. Since, Town Hall has been home to countless musical milestones: The US debuts of Strauss, and Isaac Stern; Marian Anderson’s first New York recital; in 1945, Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker introduced bebop to the world; Bob Dylan’s first major concert in ‘63; and much much more.
LEARN MORE. VISIT THETOWNHALL.ORG/TOURS
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Thanks for putting art in the heart of the community
Bank of America recognizes The Town Hall for its success in bringing the arts to performers and audiences throughout the community e commend you on creating an opportunity for all to enjoy and share a cultural experience. Visit us at bankofamerica.com/about.
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