The San Antonio Symphony rarely encourages attendees to wear a Darth Vader mask, put on an old Superman Halloween costume, or draw Harry Potter’s lightning bolt scar on their foreheads. This weekend, for the “Star Wars and More: The Music of John Williams” concert, costumes are fair game at the Tobin Center for Performing Arts on Friday and Saturday starting at 8 p.m. This is the sixth performance of the H-E-B Pops Series.
John Williams, to whom the concert is dedicated, is an American composer who has strung together music for some of the most popular films of the past 20 years. He’s won 22 Grammy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, and five Academy Awards throughout his career that spans more than six decades. He has been nominated 49 times for Academy Awards, which makes him, after Walt Disney, the individual most often nominated for an award.
Williams holds honorary degrees from The Juilliard School, New England Conservatory of Music, Boston College, the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, and the Eastman School of Music.
The concert will be led by guest conductor Stuart Chafetz who is on the podium in cities across the world this season. During his career he has worked with artists such as Chris Botti, George Benson, Richard Chamberlain, The Chieftains, Jennifer Holliday, John Denver, Marvin Hamlisch, Thomas Hampson, Wynonna Judd, Jim Nabors, Randy Newman, Jon Kimura Parker, and Bernadette Peters.
Previously, he was the resident conductor of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and associate conductor of the Louisville Orchestra.
“We always try to expand our audience so that there is a more broad appeal for what we provide to the community. When we do a concert like this we hope it appeals to people who wouldn’t typically go to the symphony,” said David Gross, San Antonio Symphony president.
Here is a list of songs on the menu:
“The Cowboys Overture” From “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”
March from “1941”
“Harry’s Wondrous World” from “Harry Potter”
“Viktor’s Tale” from “The Terminal”
“Adventures on Earth” from “E.T. the Extra-terrestrial”
“Superman” March
Theme from “Jaws”
“The Flight to Neverland” from “Hook”
Suite from “Far and Away”
Theme from “Schindler’s List”
Imperial March from “Star Wars”
Princess Leia’s Theme from “Star Wars”
Main Title from “Star Wars”
Tickets are almost sold out, purchase them now by calling the Tobin Box Office at (210) 223-8624 or online at tobincenter.org.
*Featured/top image: Volunteers dressed as Stars Wars characters took photos with children during the 2014 H-E-B Pops Series. Photo courtesy of the San Antonio Symphony.
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