PLAY! A Video Game Symphony Concert Series Launches World Tour

From the Creative Team That Brought You the Ground Breaking Dear Friends-Music From FINAL FANTASY Symphony Tour, Comes an Entirely New Celebration of Video Game Music and Images

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- JMP Productions announced today that PLAY!, a symphony concert series with music from a catalogue of blockbuster video game titles will tour the world, starting in North America in April 2006.

PLAY! A Video Game Symphony concerts, to be performed by full orchestra and choir, will feature award-winning music from titles such as FINAL FANTASY ®, BATTLEFIELD 1942 (TM), WORLD OF WARCRAFT ® and THE ELDER SCROLLS III: MORROWIND (TM). Outstanding graphics on large screens above the orchestra will accompany the scores, highlighting memorable moments from the video games. "As the most experienced team in the field of video game music concerts we will present the ultimate tour to the fans," says series producer Jason Michael Paul. "Our concerts will feature many brand new arrangements done by the original composers themselves. We will focus on celebrating video game music like never before."

Arnie Roth, Music Director and Principal Conductor of the Chicagoland Pops will serve as Principal Conductor and Music Director for this concert series: "This spectacular concert will attract people of all generations to some of the worlds greatest concert halls."

The first state side video game music concert, Dear Friends-Music from FINAL FANTASY, was held on May 10, 2004 at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, CA. The concert, produced by JMP Productions, featured music from Square Enix's world-renowned video game series, celebrated the unique beauty of FINAL FANTASY's award-winning score and images. Performed by the acclaimed Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Los Angeles Master Chorale, Dear Friends sold out in three days and received rave reviews from the press. The positive reception given to that performance gave rise to the 2005 U.S. concert series, under the direction of Maestro Arnie Roth. The performance of Dear Friends- Music from FINAL FANTASY by the Chicagoland Pops Orchestra and CPO Festival Choir, conducted by Roth in February 2005 was a sold-out house of over 4,250. Of the attendees, many were young people who had never attended an orchestral concert before.

Producer: Jason Michael Paul Productions

Paul has brought critical acclaim to the video game music genre after creating the first ever video game music concert series in the U.S. with Dear Friends- Music from FINAL FANTASY. As a producer, he has staged concerts around the world for such artists as Luciano Pavarotti, and The Three Tenors. Paul began his career at a marketing agency handling corporate entertainment and environmental design for clients such as Sony Computer Entertainment America, Sun Microsystems, Adidas, Midway Entertainment, Sony Metreon and Square Enix.

Music Director and Conductor: Arnie Roth

Roth is a Grammy Award winning artist known for his work with performers Diana Ross, Charlotte Church, Peter Cetera, Art Garfunkel, the Irish Tenors, and Dennis DeYoung. He has also been a long time member of Mannheim Steamroller. Roth has conducted the London Symphony Orchestra, the National Symphony, the Atlanta Symphony, the Hollywood Bowl Philharmonic, the Dallas Symphony, the Houston Symphony, and the BBC Symphony. Roth served as the Music Director and Conductor for Dear Friends, and More Friends Concerts. He has produced and conducted music for many films, and has produced dozens of best- selling CDs, released on American Gramaphone, JVC, Mattel, Warner Bros., Sony, Koch, and Razor & Tie. Roth received the award for Best Score at the 2003 DVD Premier Awards.