Yasunori Mitsuda

Today i had the pleasure of attending one of the most important rehearsals to date. Yes! A very important celebrity guest was there. Me right? Well, close. Mr Yasunori Mitsuda who recently flew in from Japan attended the rehearsal today, and more interestingly performed with our musicians. Yes! That is right, he will be performing on stage at this years Passion concert.

Today's rehearsal comprised of every featuring musician; Hiroaki and Ayako on the violin, Natalia on the piano, Zane on guitar and Joshua on percussion and not to mention Mr Mitsuda on the bouzouki (a greek guitar). I had the pleasure of listening to some fabulous pieces today, noticeably the intro to Chrono Cross (the PS game). I also heard one the Kirite pieces for the first time today, one of Mitsuda's recent works and i have to say the electric guitar in it absolutely dazzling.

In retrospect to todays rehearsal, i have to say that you fans have something really huge to look forward to. It is absolutely incredible how a really tight knit ensemble, an eclectic one at that, manages to produce some really fine music.

This post might not make it out in time for the Melbourne concert, but i hope it makes it for the Sydney concert. I really urge all of you who have any interest in video game music to come see this concert. It truly is a one in a lifetime opportunity to see the masters in action and in the flesh. If you are already coming, then i urge you to bring your friends too.

At the end of the rehearsal i had the opportunity to hang out with Mr Mitsuda and Hiroaki. As we waited for our car to fetch us, we went for a brief walk through the Botanical Gardens and then to the Opera House where we had stunning views of the Harbour Bridge. I believe Mr Mitsuda was quite impressed with the scenery and the view that Sydney Harbour had to offer from the many "sugoi" i heard him excitedly say. He was very excited to try and take photos but alas we were on a tight schedual. Quite amusingly, i understood that Mr Mitsuda was looking for a tree somewhere in the garden which he said he had seen on a TV commercial in Japan. He was confident that this tree was in this garden. Unfortunately i could not help.

And so finally we met up with our car, driven by the extremely hard working SEAC agent Yuya. Hiroaki and Mr Mitsuda were on a really tight schedual now as they had a plane to catch to Melbourne for this weekends Melbourne Passion concert. But where did we go? Straight to Harry's Cafe de Wheels in Woolloomooloo. There Mr Mitsuda got to try his first aussie tucker. We picked up 4 pies complete with peas, mash and gravy, and i got myself a Harry's Hot Dog de Wheels. From the look of his face and the speed he consumed it, the pie passed the test.

So after our afternoon tea it was time to part ways. Me to quickly upload some pictures and write this, and them to get to Melbourne. I hear they are going to a fancy Italian restaurant down there.


I will hopefully see Mr Mitsuda next week when he is back up in Sydney for our Sydney concert, and also stay tuned for next weeks post on Hitoshi Sakimoto, our other esteemed guest.