NDK 10: Piano Squall

One of NDK’s guests this year was Piano Squall, a semi-professional pianist that plays music from anime and video games. He travels around the country playing at various conventions dressed as Squall Leonheart from Final Fantasy VIII.

Something I greatly admire about Piano Squall is that since his grandmother died earlier this year from multiple sclorosis, he’s donated all of his profits from his convention concerts to the National MS Society. For his NDK appearance, Nan Desu Kan matched this donation dollar-for-dollar. Piano Squall’s alter ego’s employer, EA matched the total of Squall’s and NDK’s contributions, for a grand total of $4,148. Not too shabby for a small anime convention along the Rockies.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to go the the Piano Squall concert. Luckily, he’s got a devoted following and I found a video of the concert the day after the con ended. I watched it all the way through and I was mighty impressed by his skills. I only hope that he comes back to NDK soon so I can catch his concert live.