Timeless Tunes

APO opens season with box office best sellers

Steven Byess, music director of the Arkansas Philharmonic Orchestra, will conduct season opening concerts Saturday centered on the music of composer John Williams.
Steven Byess, music director of the Arkansas Philharmonic Orchestra, will conduct season opening concerts Saturday centered on the music of composer John Williams.

They're tunes that everyone knows. Darth Vader's "dum dum dum dum-de-dum, dum-de-dum." Indiana Jones' "Raiders March." The "Flying Theme" from "E.T."

Besides being composed by John Williams, this weekend, the music will have something else in common. It will be conducted by maestro Steven Byess and performed by the Arkansas Philharmonic Orchestra.

FAQ

Arkansas Philharmonic

‘A Day at the Movies’

WHEN — 2 p.m. Saturday

and

‘A Night at the Movies’

WHEN — 7:30 p.m. Saturday

WHERE — Arend Arts Center in Bentonville

COST — $5-$10 for the matinee; $5-$35 for the evening performance

INFO — 841-4644 or arphil.org

"This weekend's program, 'A Night at the Movies: The Music of John Williams,' is an exciting and in-depth survey of one of the world's most accomplished and successful composers for film and for the concert stage," Byess says with his trademark enthusiasm. "Nominated for more than 40 Oscars, and winner of five, he is one of the world's most acclaimed composers of film music. For over six decades, Williams has written extraordinary themes for many of the most successful films of all time, and his collaboration with Steven Spielberg has given the world not only some of its biggest box office smashes, but many of the best-loved film themes ever written."

In addition to including themes from "Star Wars," "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," "Jaws," "Jurassic Park" and "Superman," the two concerts will target different audiences -- younger listeners in the afternoon, older ones in the evening.

"The format for the performances is friendly and very entertaining," Byess says. "I will share some information about each piece, then we will show a short clip from the film to demonstrate the connections and collaborations between the director and the composer John Williams, and this will be followed by the orchestra performing excerpts from Williams' great film scores.

"Every work on the program is the epitome of musical effectiveness in creating interesting characters, exotic and magical locales or exciting drama," he adds. "'Schindler's List" will feature one of the APO concertmasters, Miho Sakon, in the exquisitely sublime theme that so beautifully and mournfully contrasts the horrors of World War II. 'Catch Me If You Can' is a dazzling display of 1960s cool jazz, featuring saxophone soloist Joseph Rulli. 'The Witches of Eastwick' is a brilliant scherzo for the entire orchestra. 'Jaws' is a model of musical economy with a gigantic impact. And indeed, many of the selections will display a full orchestra sound and timbre that is thrilling to the extreme.

"This program is the perfect opportunity to hear a live performance of a symphony orchestra -- to experience the passion and the exhilarating power of the sweeping, dramatic and thrilling music we have come to love."

NAN What's Up on 09/09/2016

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