Square Enix, Inc, creators of the popular Final Fantasy series of games has announced that their Dear Friends: Music from Final Fantasy concert series will come to Chicaco on Saturday, February 19, 2005. The concert, performed by the Chicagoland Pops Orchestra and the CPO Festival Choir, will be the first in a long-awaited series.

Ichiro Otobe, president and COO of Square Enix, Inc., announced that, "The first Final Fantasy concert in the U.S. brought fans from far and wide together in Los Angeles to share in an unforgettable musical experience. We are pleased to announce that, due to the overwhelmingly positive response, a North American tour will soon bring the emotionally moving and powerful scores to fans across the country."

The concert will be produced by Uematsu and conducted by Arnie Roth, the Grammy-award winning music director of the Chicagoland Pops. VIP tickets will be available for the concert and will feature an opportunity to meet Mr. Uematsu. The original North American Dear Friends concert was on May 10, 2004 and was attended by four of RPGFan's staff. You can read Eric Farand and Damian Thomas' impressions here.

Tickets for the Chicago performance are available now. You can obtain tickets, including the VIP tickets, by visiting the box office, by credit card at (312)-559-1212, or on the internet at Ticketmaster.com. The original Dear Friends concert sold out in nearly three days, so ticket space may be limited.

• Square Enix Official Website