big celebration
Ring in 2012 with John Williams and the Austin Symphony Orchestra
Dec 31, 2011 | 6:00 am
Are you still undecided about how to send off 2011 in style? The Austin Symphony Orchestra has you covered.
Tonight, New Year's Eve, ASO invites you to come listen to a performance of John Williams, one of America's most popular and successful orchestral composers of the modern age.
Best known for his film scores and ceremonial music, Williams will play highlights from his favorite scores such as Star Wars, Harry Potter, E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, Fiddler on the Roof, Born on the Fourth of July and many more.
Williams described writing film scores as a constant process that's driven measure by measure by the film itself, in an interview with the Chicago Symphony in 2003. "In the late twenties and early thirties, people would come to Hollywood and their only idea to accompany film was inspired by the art music of Europe. Now we have something of the reverse; the exact opposite of what we had in the thirties-a complete shift in sensibility. The process has really only begun. What's happened the last five or six decades has only been setting up a preparation, and a keen interest, and an awareness of the great musical opportunity that's here. It's an art form that's in its infancy. That's what's exciting."
Want to hear an audio sample? Check it out at the ASO website. The Music of John Williams will be performed at 8 p.m. on December 30 and 31 as part of the Sarah & Ernest Butler Pops Series.
In January, ASO proudly welcomes world-acclaimed pianist Emanuel Ax for two extraordinary keyboard works. Ax captured public attention in 1974 when he won the first Arthur Rubenstein International Piano Competition in Tel Aviv. In 1975 he won the Michaels Award of Young Concert Artists, followed four years later by the coveted Avery Fisher Prize.
"I am thrilled that he is coming as he is one of the premiere pianists in the world," says Pat Harris, ASO Centennial Chair. "Ax will complete the trio of Yo-Yo Ma and Itzhak Perlman that have already played here with the Austin Symphony."
Ax will take center stage at Dell Hall to perform Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 2, the composer's first major orchestral work. After intermission and a performance of Bajka by the ASO orchestra, Ax will close the evening with Karol Szymanowski’s Symphony No. 4 for Piano and Orchestra. You can view a video sample at ASO.
Emanual Ax will perform at 8 p.m. on January 13 and 14, and ticket holders can attend a pre-concert lecture beginning at 7:10 p.m.
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Tickets can be purchased by calling (512) 476-6064 or online at the Austin Symphony Orchestra.