Introduction

John Williams - without doubt the most successful movie composer of all time with record breaking Academy nominations and a whole raft of awards and accolades for his scores together with two other stand-out achievements over a long and distinguished career.

One is his decades long partnership with multi award winning director Steven Spielberg, the other is his extraordinary contribution to the nine Star Wars films.

Certainly a career highlight for me, was being involved in two of those soundtracks which were recorded in London in 2002 and 2005 – “Attack of the Clones” and “Revenge of the Sith”, and having the opportunity of seeing him at work first hand in the studio was a real privilege.

Tonight we explore the magical world of the music from Star Wars in film chronological order from “The Phantom Menace” to “The Rise of Skywalker”. I’m very much looking forward to conducting Williams’s scores played by the mighty CBSO.

Too many highlights to list, but from the tender Leia’s Theme to the sheer exhilaration of the Battle of the Heroes, the characterful Parade of the Ewoks to the majestic Rebellion is Reborn, the extra emotional impact that this music brings to the on screen action of these films is remarkable.

I hope you enjoy the concert!

Stephen Bell, Conductor