AS PART OF SEASON-LONG CELEBRATION OF JOHN WILLIAMS’
UNPARALLELED CAREER, BOSTON POPS AND KEITH LOCKHART RELEASE LIGHTS, CAMERA…MUSIC! SIX DECADES OF JOHN WILLIAMS, A NEW RETROSPECTIVE ALBUM OF THE CONDUCTOR LAUREATE’S FILM MUSIC RECORDED LIVE AT WORLD-RENOWNED SYMPHONY HALLALBUM FEATURES MUSIC FROM JOHN WILLIAMS SCORES TO HEIDI (1968), GOODBYE, MR. CHIPS (1969), THE TOWERING INFERNO (1974), MIDWAY (1976), DRACULA (1979), E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL (1982), THE WITCHES OF EASTWICK (1987), SABRINA (1995), SLEEPERS (1996), THE PATRIOT (2000), THE TERMINAL (2004), AND STAR WARS EPISODE VII:
THE FORCE AWAKENS (2015)
THE 2017 BOSTON POPS SEASON IS SPONSORED BY FIDELITY INVESTMENTS®
 Conductor Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops Orchestra salute Conductor Laureate John Williams with Lights, Camera…Music! Six Decades of John Williams, a new album showcasing the remarkable diversity of the iconic composer’s film music. The CD was released on Wednesday, May 17, and is currently available for purchase at www.bostonpops.org (other outlets for purchase are listed below). The album’s liner notes, by music critic Alex Ross, are available here.The musical selections for Lights, Camera…Music! Six Decades of John Williams, which date from 1968 to 2015, were recorded live in Boston Pops concerts at Symphony Hall in May 2016 and April 2017 and span six decades of music from some of the composer’s most familiar works, such as Star Wars: The Force Awakens(2015), along with rarities, such as the album’s opening selection, the Main Title & Overture from Heidi (1968). Thealbum features music to such widely popular films as E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (“Stargazers,” featuring Boston Pops v harpist Jessica Zhou) and The Terminal (“Viktor’s Tale,” featuring principal clarinet Thomas Martin ), as well as the main title from The Towering Inferno (1974), “Devil’s Dance” from The Witches of Eastwick (1987), and the main theme from The Patriot (2000). A major highlight of the album is the Suite from Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015), with such popular selections as “March of the Resistance,” “Rey’s Theme,” “Scherzo for X-Wings,” and “The Jedi Steps.” Lesser-known gems include the main theme from Sabrina (1995), Overture to Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1969), and “Men of the Yorktown March” from Midway (1976), as well as classic themes from Sleepers (1996) and Dracula (1979). Please see below for a full track listing.
QUOTE FROM JOHN WILLIAMS, BOSTON POPS CONDUCTOR LAUREATE
 Released on BSO Classics, the new recording is available as a one-disc digi pak for $17.95; and as a digital download priced from $10.99-$12.99, depending on format, at www.bso.org/digital. The digital recording is available in three formats—MP3, AIFF 96/24bit, and FLAC 96/24bit—and will also be available at a later date through high definition audio sites including HDtracks and Prostudiomasters. The recording is currently available for purchased at the Symphony Shop at Symphony Hall in Boston and online at www.bso.org; it is also available on Amazon.com and iTunes. The Orchard is the international distributor of BSO Classics recordings.
Recording Personnel for Lights, Camera…Music! Six Decades of John Williams
 Recording personnel responsible for producing Lights, Camera…Music! Six Decades of John Williams are Shawn Murphy, Producer and Engineer; Nick Squire, Recording Engineer; Robert Wolff, Editing Engineer; Tim Martyn, Editing Engineer and Mastering Engineer; Joel Watts and John Morin, Assistant Engineers; and Brian Losch, Production Assistant. This team of producers and engineers was nominated for a 2017 Grammy for Best Engineered Classical Album for the BSO’s recording of Shostakovich’s Symphonies Nos. 5, 8, and 9 on Deutsche Grammophon.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF BOSTON POPS SPRING SEASON
The 2017 Boston Pops spring season, May 10-June 17, under the direction of Keith Lockhart, will present the first-ever season-long tribute to John Williams‘s film music, honoring Mr. Williams’s 37-year association with the Boston Pops and his incredible stature as one of the world’s most beloved and prolific composers, and in celebration of his 85th birthday year. The Boston Pops 2017 season will devote 11 concerts to music from each of Mr. Williams’s six decades as a film composer.
In addition to the tribute to John Williams, the 132nd Boston Pops season—under the direction of Keith Lockhart, now in his 23rd season as Boston Pops Conductor—offers a colorful spectrum of programs spotlighting some of its most treasured traditions, while also putting a special focus on highly acclaimed artists in their Pops debuts and celebrating some of the most popular performers and programs from recent years. The 2017 season opened on Wednesday, May 10, with the Pops debut of the extraordinary, multi-talented performer Queen Latifah and closes on June 17 with the 25th Gospel Night, led by Charles Floyd and featuring CeCeWinans and the Boston Pops Gospel Choir. Additional highlights of the 2017 Boston Pops season include special performances by the highly acclaimed star of Hamilton, Leslie Odom, Jr. (6/6 & 7), in his Pops debut, and return appearances by the popular American singer-songwriter Ben Folds (5/17 & 18) and the iconic American new wave band The B-52s (6/13 & 14). Popular ABBA tribute band, Arrival From Sweden, joined the Boston Pops for a program entitled Mamma Mia!: Mother’s Day with the Music of ABBA (5/14 & 15), and Cirque de la Symphonie makes a welcome return to the Symphony Hall stage in their unique multi-faceted show of aerial acrobats, contortionists, jugglers, and dancers all performing on stage along with the Boston Pops Orchestra (6/2 & 3). Also making a welcome return to the Symphony Hall stage are programs devoted to the iconic music of The Beatles—hosted by WZLX radio personality “Cha-Chi” Loprete (6/8, 10, & 11). As part of the season-long tribute to Boston Pops Conductor Laureate John Williams, Keith Lockhart led two pre-season Boston Pops performances of Mr. Williams’s film music hosted by actress Karen Allen and recorded for a new retrospective album of the maestro’s celebrated scores to be released at the start of the 2017 Boston Pops season.
The 2017 Boston Pops season will also include three 3 p.m. matinee family concerts (5/13 & 14, 6/3), with a 50% discount for young patrons 17 and under. Additional initiatives include a choose-your-own subscription option and a 15% discount for groups of 25 or more. Tickets to the 2017 Boston Pops season are on sale now at 888-266-1200 or www.bostonpops.org.
A BRIEF RECORDING HISTORY OF THE BOSTON POPS
 Affectionately known as “America’s Orchestra,” the Boston Pops is the most recorded and arguably the most beloved orchestra in the country, beginning with the establishment of the modern-era Pops by Arthur Fiedler and continuing through the innovations introduced by John Williams and the new-millennium Pops spearheaded by Keith Lockhart.Ever since the earliest Boston Pops recordings in 1935 under iconic Boston Pops conductor Arthur Fiedler, the orchestra has been laying down tracks of light classical music as well as some of the most popular tunes of each passing decade. The orchestra’s recording ventures have evolved with the technology of the times.In the ’30s and ’40s, Fiedler and the Pops concentrated on short orchestral works of about eight minutes’ duration, such as overtures by Weber, Dvořák, Berlioz, Wagner, waltzes by Strauss, and The Sorcerer’s Apprentice by Dukas. These pieces fit very conveniently on a twelve-inch 78-RPM record, with four minutes on each side.In the early 1950s, with the advent of the long-playing record, Fiedler and the Boston Pops quickly expanded the repertoire to take advantage of the new format. The LP’s playing time of about forty-five minutes allowed for an adventurous and varied slate of selections. The 1953 release Classical Music for People Who Hate Classical Music was probably one of the first examples of what is now called the “concept album.”Under the leadership of John Williams, the Boston Pops Orchestra began recording with Philips, which made the ensemble part of the album title: Pops in Love; Pops in Space; Pops on Stage; Pops on the March. Then, when one was expecting Pops at the Movies, Philips threw a curve and called it Aisle Seat! In recent years Boston Pops Conductor Keith Lockhart has shifted album production in-house, with recording sessions taking place at the orchestra’s acoustically celebrated Symphony Hall in Boston. Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops have released four self-produced recordings—Sleigh Ride, America, Oscar & Tony, and, most recently, The Red Sox Album. In September 2009, the Boston Pops released its first digital-download only recording of its wildly popular arrangement of “The Twelve Days of Christmas.” That same year, Keith Lockhart also led the Pops for Chris Botti’s In Boston CD and DVD, which received multiple Grammy nominations in 2009. In July 2010, the Pops released the live recording of the world premiere performances of The Dream Lives On: A Portrait of the Kennedy Brothers, featuring narrators Robert De Niro, Morgan Freeman, Ed Harris, and Cherry Jones. Most recently, in 2013, the Boston Pops released the orchestra’s first all-live Christmas album,A Boston Pops Christmas – Live From Symphony Hall, highlighted by the ensemble’s wildly popular arrangement of “The Twelve Days of Christmas.” Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops Orchestra have also recorded eight albums with RCA Victor—Runnin’ Wild: The Boston Pops Play Glenn Miller, American Visions, the Grammy-nominated The Celtic Album, Holiday Pops, A Splash of Pops, Encore!, the Latin Grammy-nominated The Latin Album, and My Favorite Things: A Richard Rodgers Celebration. For a brief history of the Boston Pops please click here.
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LIGHTS, CAMERA…MUSIC! SIX DECADES OF JOHN WILLIAMS
Boston Pops Orchestra
Keith Lockhart, Julian and Eunice Cohen Boston Pops Conductor
Track Listing
1] Main Title & Overture from Heidi
2] Overture to Goodbye, Mr. Chips
3] Main Title from The Towering Inferno
4] Men of the Yorktown March from Midway
5] Night Journeys from Dracula
6] Stargazers from E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial
Jessica Zhou, harp
7] Devil’s Dance from The Witches of Eastwick
8] Theme from Sabrina
VytasBaksys, piano
9] Reunion and Finale from Sleepers
10] Theme from The Patriot
Middlesex County Fifes & Drums
11] Viktor’s Tale from The Terminal
Thomas Martin, clarinet
Guy Klucevsek, accordion
Suite from Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens
12] March of the Resistance
13] Rey’s Theme
14] Scherzo for X-Wings
15] The Jedi Steps
16] Finale |
