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The new trend in concert halls is original music by movie composers, no film required / Variety

For decades, concert commissions for film composers were few and far between. The increasing popularity of John Williams' film music, and his visibility as conductor of the Boston Pops in the 1980s and '90s, led to his writing a number of concert works, but Williams was, for the most part, the exception to the rule. That is changing, some composers say, because orchestra managers are reaching the belated conclusion that film music communicates immediately to audiences, and the current trend of live-to-picture concerts of movie hits (everything from "Star Wars" to "Lord of the Rings") is bringing in big bucks. As a result, adventurous programmers are seeking new works by established film composers in hopes that audiences have developed a thirst for similarly melodic, even exciting, music by names they recognize even if there are no images to accompany them. 

Several concert works by film composers will debut in the next few weeks including;

- "Eleven Eleven," a violin concerto by Danny Elfman 

- "All American," an overture by Laura Karpman ("Underground"), Aug. 22 with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl.

- A symphony for orchestra and two pianos by Cliff Eidelman ("Star Trek VI").


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