John Williams News

May the Fourth be with you. That's right, it's a special day in the Star Wars fandom. Below, we celebrate May 4th with a Broadway-style flashback to Bea Arthur's big number in the 1978 Star Wars Christmas special. Check it out below!

Vanity Fair just released a first look at their June issue, featuring cast members from the upcoming STAR WARS sequel. Below, check out the cover photo of Harrison Ford as Han Solo, with Chewbacca, as well as new characters, Rey (Daisy Ridley), Finn (John Boyega), and a new droid named BB-8.

NEW DRAMATISTS, Tony Honor recipient and the nation's premier playwright development laboratory, will honor Tony Award winning actor and Chairman of the Board of The Actors Fund, Brian Stokes Mitchell with their 2015 Distinguished Achievement Award at its 66th Annual Spring Luncheon tribute.

At this year's Patriotic Pops concert, the Buffalo Philharmonic will honor the military not only onstage, but at the box office.

The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra joins with Amy Ray and Emily Saliers - better known as The Indigo Girls - for a one-night-only concert featuring their greatest hits - with an orchestral twist - tonight, April 30 at 8 p.m. in Heinz Hall.

On Saturday, May 16, at 2:30 pm at Richardson Auditorium, the Princeton Symphony Orchestra (PSO) presents Lemony Snicket's musical performance piece for children The Composer is Dead, a not-to-be-missed family concert in the grand tradition of Prokofiev's 'Peter and the Wolf.' Narrator Julian Grant unveils and interrogates every instrument of the orchestra as he solves Lemony Snicket's playful and perplexing murder mystery set in the symphony hall. Blending in more magical and bewitching music, the concert also features John Williams' Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone Suite and Anatol Liadov's Baba-Yaga, Op. 56. PSO. Music Director Rossen Milanov conducts.

The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra presents An Evening with Itzhak Perlman tonight, April 28, 2015at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts. Associate Conductor Francesco Lecce-Chong leads the orchestra in Brahms's Symphony No. 2, and Itzhak Perlman plays Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E minor.

WALNUT CREEK, CA (April 21, 2015) – The California Symphony, entering its third season with Music Director Donato Cabrera, is expanding its regional profile in Northern California, performing concerts in three new venues beginning in June. The orchestra, based in Walnut Creek, will perform three concerts in summer 2015 and eight concerts during its 2015-16 season, including at its home at the Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek as well as at Oakland's Kaiser Center Rooftop Garden, the Napa Valley Performing Arts Center's Lincoln Theater in Yountville, and at the Concord Pavilion in Concord. The orchestra is focused on American repertoire, nurturing new American composers as part of its Young American Composer in Residence program, and bringing music to people in new and unconventional settings as well as performing the most revered core classical repertoire. In May 2016, the orchestra and guitarist Jason Vieaux perform the world premiere of the new concerto commission by Dan Visconti, current Young American Composer in Residence, in concert in Walnut Creek and Yountville. Other season highlights include an American Roots program with pianist Charlie Albright performing Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, a showcase of two California Symphony principal musicians in a little-heard R. Strauss double concerto, a rooftop outdoor performance with Postmodern Jukebox, performances of Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 and Brahms' Symphony No. 2, the orchestra's first performance accompanying the live classic film The Wizard of Oz, and holiday music with Pacific Boychoir. Season subscription ticket packages go on sale today, Tuesday, April 21, at 10 am.

The Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, under the direction of Conductor John Morris Russell, announces that Seth MacFarlane will make his Pops debut on Friday, July 24 at Riverbend Music Center's PNC Pavilion as part of the Orchestra's summer series.

Following the release of the very first official trailer for STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS, a clever fan edited a scene from 'Interstellar, to make it appear as if Matthew McConaughey's character got all choked up over viewing the footage for the first time.

The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra joins with Amy Ray and Emily Saliers - better known as The Indigo Girls - for a one-night-only concert featuring their greatest hits - with an orchestral twist - on April 30 at 8 p.m. in Heinz Hall.

2nd & Charles and its "Year of Star Wars" is sending a Star Wars fan and guest to participate in what is likely to be the largest Star Wars festival in history.

Broadcast Music, Inc.® (BMI®), the global leader in music rights management, will present the BMI Icon Award for outstanding career achievement to prolific composer Alexandre Desplat at the organization's 2015 Film & Television Awards.

Black Swan State Theatre Company will present the modern masterpiece Glengarry Glen Ross from David Mamet, directed by Kate Cherry and starring Damian Walshe-Howling (Underbelly, Blue Heelers) and Peter Rowsthorn (Kath and Kim) in the Heath Ledger Theatre, State Theatre Centre of WA from Saturday 23 May to Sunday 14 June 2015.

Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO) Principal Pops Conductor Jack Everly leads the BSO and the Baltimore Choral Arts Society in the final SuperPops program of the season, a tribute to the work of film composer John Williams, considered one of the greatest of all time. On Thursday, May 28 at 8 p.m. at The Music Center at Strathmore, and Friday, May 29 at 8 p.m., Saturday, May 30 at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m., and Sunday, May 31 at 3 p.m. at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, audiences will hear some of the most popular and recognizable film scores in cinematic history including music from Superman, Home Alone, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Harry Potter, Schindler's List, Star Wars, Saving Private Ryan and E.T. See below for complete program details.

TSO POPS presents AS HEARD ON TV with Special Guest Nicole Parker and TSO Principal Pops Conductor Steven Reineke tonight and tomorrow, April 14 & 15, 2015 at Roy Thomson Hall.

Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO) Principal Pops Conductor Jack Everly leads the BSO and the Baltimore Choral Arts Society in the final SuperPops program of the season, a tribute to the work of film composer John Williams, considered one of the greatest of all time. On Thursday, May 28 at 8 p.m. at The Music Center at Strathmore, and Friday, May 29 at 8 p.m., Saturday, May 30 at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m., and Sunday, May 31 at 3 p.m. at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, audiences will hear some of the most popular and recognizable film scores in cinematic history including music from Superman, Home Alone, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Harry Potter, Schindler's List, Star Wars, Saving Private Ryan and E.T. See below for complete program details.

Lincoln Center Education announces "A Conversation With Brian Stokes Mitchell," a new event in its Next Stage series which explores the role of education in an artist's creative and commercial work. Equally comfortable in front of TV cameras, a symphony orchestra, and Broadway footlights, Tony Award-winner Brian Stokes Mitchell joins moderator Lincoln Center President Jed Bernstein in the intimate Clark Studio Theater for a candid conversation about his career and the importance of arts education in his work.

?The Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts, UC Davis announces its 14th season of performing arts, filled with the leading artists in music, dance and theater, speakers and a collection of films screened with live musical accompaniment.

MILWAUKEE, WIS. 04/07/2015 – The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra presents An Evening with Itzhak Perlman on April 28, 2015at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts. Associate Conductor Francesco Lecce-Chong leads the orchestra in Brahms's Symphony No. 2, and Itzhak Perlman plays Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E minor.