A little culture for the kids. We took our kids to a really cool event on Friday, April 27th (my B-day!), and they actually had a lot of fun. And having a chance to hear some John Williams compositions live is just too hard to pass up.

MEAGAN THOMPSON/Times-News... Soloist Jenni-Leigh Jones performs 'The Doll Song' from the opera 'Tales of Hoffman' during the Magic Valley Symphony's rehearsal for Friday's pops concert.

Lights! Camera! Music!

MV Symphony goes to the movies for its pop concert

By Steve Crump

Times-News writer

TWIN FALLS - Picture this:

The Magic Valley Symphony will close its season Friday with a pops concert of movie music.

"Maestro and movie fan Theodore Anchor Hadley has programmed his personal favorites from all generations," said Paula Brown Sinclair, the orchestra's horn player and historian, of the symphony's director.

Featured selections include three medleys from John Williams: his early "The Cowboys," his most famous "Star Wars" and his recent "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban."

Nineteenth-century Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky's "Night on Bald Mountain" and an arrangement of themes from Czech composer Paul Dukas' "Sorcerer's Apprentice" - both used in the 1950 Disney animated classic "Fantasia" - are on the program, plus a medley of other Disney tunes.

In connection with the concert, the symphony is staging a Harry Potter/Hermione Granger look-alike contest. Potter fans of all ages are invited to compete for a prize.

"This is a concert for all ages," Hadley said. "We will show you how magic and fun classical music can be. And, there will be surprises."

The pops concert idea became popular a century ago as a means to reach new audiences - lighter fare for those who might not be ready for serious classical music.

"This is not to say that 'pops' classics are a lesser form of music," Sinclair said. "The usual symphonies and concertos, which some moderns find hard to understand, were the light entertainment of their day. In fact, the pops concert repertoire can be just as serious, but more enjoyable for its familiarity. We certainly agonize less over the need to understand it."

Before the concert, two short silent movies shot in Idaho in the early 1920s by filmmaker Nell Shipman will be screened.

Times-News features writer Steve Crump can be reached at 735-3223 or scrump@magicvalley.com.

Friday night's symphony music in detail:

*"The Cowboys" overture by John Williams, from the 1972 John Wayne film. "I believe (this) is the only western starring Wayne in which his character dies," said Paula Brown Sinclair, the symphony's horn player and historian. "The music is inspired by but up a notch from the greats of the western genre, such as 'Big Country.'"

* "A Night on Bald Mountain" by Modest Mussorgsky, one of the eight selections from the classical repertoire featured in "Fantasia." "It was a showcase for animator Bill Tytla, who gave the demon Chernabog a power and intensity that was rarely equaled in subsequent Disney films, but the horror of the ghosts and skeletons are brought to an abrupt end by church bells," Sinclair said.

*An arrangement of themes from "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" by Paul Dukas. "This is the iconic 'Fantasia,' Mickey Mouse as the sorcerer whose magic takes control," Sinclair said.

*A concert suite from "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" by Williams - the third Harry Potter film scored by Williams, and the second to earn an Oscar nomination. "It's a very recent work refreshingly unlike the classic John Williams of high volume and percussive brass," Sinclair said.

*"The Doll Song" from the opera "Tales of Hoffman," by Jacques Offenbach, sung by soprano and symphony violinist Jenni-Leigh Jones to illustrate what entertainment looked and sounded like before film.

*Symphonic highlights from "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" by Hans Zimmer, a name gaining fame in movie soundtracks ("The Contender," "Muppet Treasure Island," "Driving Miss Daisy," "Black Hawk Down" and the Oscar-winning "Lion King," to name a few of his compositions).

*"Star Wars Medley" by Williams. "A classic of high volume, percussive brass and wonderful interludes of superb melodies," Sinclair said.



Show tunes

*What: The Magic Valley Symphony will present "Movie Magic," a program featuring popular musical scores from the movies.

*Where: College of Southern Idaho Fine Arts Center auditorium, Twin Falls.

*When: Friday, 8 p.m.

*How much: Tickets, which are $8 for adults, $6 for seniors and $5 for students, will be available at Everybody's Business and at the door.

Thanks to magicvalley.com