The Film Score Composing Legend Leads the Los Angeles Philharmonic in a Program of Some of His Favorites; Actress Lynn Redgrave Narrates the Harry Potter Sequence

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2009, AT 8:30 PM

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2009, AT 8:30 PM

September 4 Media Sponsor: Los Angeles Magazine; September 5 Media Sponsor: 89.3 KPCC

One of the most popular annual Hollywood Bowl traditions continues when composer/conductor John Williams returns to share some of his favorite film scores, Friday and Saturday, September 4 and 5, at 8:30 p.m. In the concerts, John Williams and the Music of the Movies, the world-renowned Williams leads the Los Angeles Philharmonic in a lineup of music from Harry Potter, Catch Me If You Can, Casablanca, Dracula and Superman and others. Actress Lynn Redgrave appears in the first half of the program to narrate The Magic of Harry Potter.

In the more than 30 years since his Bowl debut, multiple Academy Award-winner Williams has changed the course of modern-day film with his unforgettable music scores. His dynamic use of the orchestra makes movie audiences cheer, brings them to tears and keeps them on the edge of their seats – and his annual visits do the same for Bowl audiences.

Williams serves as chair of the artistic advisory panel for the October 3 Bienvenido Gustavo! community concert, held at the Bowl, to welcome incoming LA Phil Music Director Gustavo Dudamel. Also in October, at Walt Disney Concert Hall, he curates and conducts Music from the City of Angels, a program celebrating film music.

In a career spanning five decades, JOHN WILLIAMS has become one of America’s most accomplished and successful composers for film and for the concert stage, and he remains one of our nation’s most distinguished and contributive musical voices. He has composed the music and served as music director for more than 100 films, including all six Star Wars films, the first three Harry Potter films, Superman, JFK, Born on the Fourth of July, Memoirs of a Geisha, Far and Away, The Accidental Tourist and Home Alone. His 35-year artistic partnership with director Steven Spielberg has resulted in many of Hollywood’s most acclaimed and successful films, including Schindler’s List, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, Jaws, Jurassic Park, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, the Indiana Jones films, Munich and Saving Private Ryan. His contributions to television music include scores for more than 200 television films for the groundbreaking, early anthology series Alcoa Theatre, Kraft Television Theatre, Chrysler Theatre and Playhouse 90, as well as themes for NBC Nightly News (“The Mission”), NBC’s Meet the Press and the PBS arts showcase Great Performances. He also composed themes for the 1984, 1988, and 1996 Summer Olympic Games, as well as the 2002 Winter Olympic Games. He has received five Academy Awards and 45 Oscar nominations, making him the Academy’s most-nominated living person. He has received seven British Academy Awards (BAFTA), 21 Grammys, four Golden Globes, four Emmys, and numerous gold and platinum records. In 2003, he received the Olympic Order (the IOC’s highest honor) for his contributions to the Olympic movement, and he received the prestigious Kennedy Center Honor in December of 2004. In January 1980, Mr. Williams was named 19th music director of the Boston Pops Orchestra, succeeding the legendary Arthur Fiedler. He currently holds the title of Boston Pops Laureate Conductor which he assumed following his retirement in December, 1993, after 14 highly successful seasons. He also holds the title of Artist-in-Residence at Tanglewood. Williams has composed numerous works for the concert stage, among them two symphonies, and concertos commissioned by several of the world’s leading orchestras, including a cello concerto for the Boston Symphony Orchestra, a bassoon concerto for the New York Philharmonic, a trumpet concerto for the Cleveland Orchestra, and a horn concerto for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. In 2009, Williams composed and arranged “Air and Simple Gifts” especially for the inaugural ceremony of President Barack Obama, and in September 2009, the Boston Symphony will premiere a new work for harp and orchestra entitled “On Willows and Birches.”

LYNN REDGRAVE was born in London into a family of actors and has enjoyed a remarkable career on stage, screen and beyond spanning four decades. She has been nominated for three Tony Awards, three Oscars, two Emmys, a Grammy and most recently was the recipient of a 2008 New York Emmy. Film highlights include Georgy Girl (Oscar nomination, Golden Globe, New York Film Critics’ awards), Gods and Monsters (1999 Golden Globe, Independent Spirit Award, Oscar nomination), Shine (BAFTA and SAG nominations) and Kinsey. She was a founding member of The Royal National Theatre and is the author of four plays, Shakespeare For My Father (which examines her relationship with Sir Michael Redgrave), The Mandrake Root (loosely based on her mother, the actress Rachel Kempson) and Nightingale (a fictional meditation on the life of her maternal grandmother, Beatrice Kempson), which will have its New York Premiere at Manhattan Theatre Club this September. She recently performed her newest work, Rachel and Juliet, at Washington, D.C.’s Folger Theatre. She has also written the text for Journal, A Mother and Daughter’s Recovery From Breast Cancer, featuring photographs by her daughter, Annabel Clark, currently in its third printing from Umbrage Editions. Recent film credits include The Jane Austen Book Club and the final Merchant / Ivory production, The White Countess, acting alongside sister Vanessa and her niece, the late Natasha Richardson and as ‘Dahlia Hainsworth’ on ABC’s “Desperate Housewives.” She can also be heard as the voice of Nanny in the animated film series of Me, Eloise and in the upcoming animated feature, My Dog Tulip. Ms. Redgrave is a prolific “voice on tape” and her latest audio book release is Roald Dahl's The Witches (Grammy nomination).

One of the largest natural amphitheaters in the world, with a seating capacity of nearly 18,000, the HOLLYWOOD BOWL has been the summer home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic since its official opening in 1922, and is home to the best and brightest in all genres of music. The 2004 season introduced audiences to a revitalized Hollywood Bowl, featuring a newly-constructed shell and stage and the addition of four stadium screens enhancing stage views in the venue. To this day, $1 buys a seat at the top of the Bowl for many of the Los Angeles Philharmonic's concerts. While the Bowl is best known for its sizzling summer nights, during the day California's youngest patrons enjoy "SummerSounds: Music for Kids at the Hollywood Bowl," the Southland's most popular summer arts festival for children, now in its 42nd season. In January 2009, the Hollywood Bowl was named Best Major Outdoor Concert Venue for the fifth year in a row at the 20th Annual Pollstar Concert Industry Awards; the Bowl's summer music festival has become as much a part of a Southern California summer as beaches and barbecues, the Dodgers, and Disneyland.

EDITORS PLEASE NOTE:

HOLLYWOOD BOWL, 2301 N. Highland Ave. in Hollywood



FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2009, AT 8:30 PM

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2009, AT 8:30 PM



JOHN WILLIAMS AND THE MUSIC OF THE MOVIES



LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC

JOHN WILLIAMS, conductor

LYNN REDGRAVE, special guest



September 4 Media Sponsor: Los Angeles Magazine

September 5 Media Sponsor: 89.3 KPCC

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