John Williams News

Following on from the huge success of the 2013 national Family Arts Festival in which over 500,000 people took part across the UK, the 2014 Family Arts Festival will run its second year from 17 October to 2 November with Michael Morpurgo announced as patron and Center Parcs as a major new partner.

The Hollywood Bowl hosted its 15th Annual Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame concert last night, June 21, featuring Hall of Fame inductees Emmy and Tony-winner Kristin Chenoweth, iconic all-female band The Go-Go's, and the eclectic band Pink Martini. Presenters included Oscar and Emmy winner Helen Hunt, Grammy-nominated singer Natasha Bedingfield, Hollywood icon Barbara Eden, actress/comedienne Carol Burnett, and Oscar-nominated actress Taraji P. Henson, as well as a special guest appearance by Lea Michele.

Emmy and Tony award winner and Oklahoma Hall of Fame inductee Kristin Chenoweth will be inducted into the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame at this year's Opening Night at the Hollywood Bowl, tonight, June 21, at 8 pm

What happens when Star Wars collides with Disney? Star Wars Musical is a parody of Episode IV: A New Hope, adapting Classic Disney songs, including "A Whole New World" and "When You Wish Upon a Star", and mashing them up with John Williams' Star Wars Themes. Dedicated fans, actors, and film professionals have come together to create this ultimate love letter that celebrates fandoms across different worlds in a combination live action/animated film. Check out the spoof (which is currently on its way to going viral) below!

When the weather is hot, the music stays cool thanks to the classic sounds of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. A sizzling lineup of guest artists, musical tributes and movie scores, as well as unique performances of classical, pops and contemporary pieces, await at Heinz Hall during the Pittsburgh Symphony's summer season.

Joining the all-star line-up for the 34th annual broadcast of PBS' A CAPITOL FOURTH,live from the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol, are platinum recording artist and songwriter Phillip Phillips and the world-famous Muppets.

Harrison Ford was injured on the set of Disney and LucasFilm's highly anticipated STAR WARS: EPISODE VII.

Harrison Ford has been injured on the set of Disney and LucasFilm's highly anticipated STAR WARS: EPISODE VII.

The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (ASO) will return to Piedmont Park to perform three free concerts this summer as part of the Bank of America presents 'Performance on the Promenade' concert series today, June 12, 19, and 26, 2014, at 7:30 p.m.

One of the most iconic rock-and-roll bands to come out of London during the 1970s—Grammy Award-winning “America”—joins Pacific Symphony Pops to rock the house with hot hits, soulful ballads and rock classics. The perennial folk-country-rock favorite celebrates its 44th anniversary this year with nearly half a century of gold and platinum albums, chart-topping hits and a variety of genre-crossing tunes in its wake. The band's surreal, somewhat psychedelic lyrics, which were an anomaly in their genre, helped to define the new California soft-rock sound that grew out of the area's folk and pop. Founding members Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell join the orchestra to perform such signature hits as “A Horse with No Name,” “Ventura Highway,” “You Can Do Magic,” “Lonely People,” “Sister Golden Hair,” “Tin Man” and more.

Amphibian Stage Productions, a professional theater company in Fort Worth, Texas, has announced the elections of Jeff Davis as Chairman of the Board of Directors and Linda Pavlik as a new addition to the Board.

Acrobatic performers from Cirque de la Symphonie join the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra for the NJSO POPS season finale this weekend, June 7 and 8 in Newark and New Brunswick.

Haunting melodies and sweet, euphonious voices combine to create a deeply moving, life-affirming evening of music, as Pacific Symphony dives into spiritual depths in preparation for Carl Orff's masterful oratorio, “Carmina Burana.” Weaving together lyrics that date back to the 12th and 13th centuries, “Carmina Burana” is brazen with its gleeful double entendre and is made even more decadent with the magnificent voices of soprano Cyndia Sieden, tenor Marc Molomot and baritone Michael Kelly joining the orchestra. Led by Music Director Carl St.Clair, the Symphony paves the way for Orff's masterful work by performing John Williams' “Exsultate Justi,” Lukas Foss' “Elegy for Anne Frank,” Charles Ives' “The Unanswered Question” and Kathy C. Bowen's “I Believe in God.” Pacific Chorale, led by Artistic Director John Alexander, lends its voices to enhance the majestic sounds, while Southern California Children's Chorus represents the voices of children during World War II.

STAR WARS Episode VII director JJ Abrams turned to Twitter today to respond to recent photo leaks of images from the set of the highly anticipated film

Alex Dimitriades, Steve Bisley and Greg Stone go head to head in the bear-pit of corporate capitalism when David Mamet's Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece rages back on stage at Melbourne Theatre Company 30 years after it was written and first performed by MTC. Explosive and enduring, and opening Thursday 10 July 2014 at Southbank Theatre, Glengarry Glen Ross exposes the testosterone-fuelled, greedy 'reality show' of capitalism and big business that is as brutal today as it ever was.

As a thank you to the Milwaukee community for its support during the season, the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra in partnership with Milwaukee County Parks presents a free outdoor concert on Sunday, June 8, 2014 in Cathedral Square Park, led by Associate Conductor Francesco Lecce-Chong. The MSO will also perform a free outdoor concert on Thursday, June 12, 2014 in Boerner Botanical Gardens, led by guest conductor Jeff Tyzik. Concerts are free and open to the public.

Get ready to shake, rattle and roll and celebrate “July 4 with Big Bad Voodoo Daddy,” as Pacific Symphony kicks off its Summer Festival 2014, presented by Mercedes-Benz. Traditionally the best-attended concert of the year, the Symphony's annual July 4 extravaganza honors American heroes and includes a moving fireworks finale orchestrated to patriotic classics. At the center of this year's holiday concert are the cool cats of Big Bad Voodoo Daddy (BBVD), seven original and two new members of the ensemble that initiated the swing revival of the 1990s with their recreations of Cab Calloway and the Big Band style. The group rocketed to its first phase of stardom when the hits “You Me & the Bottle Make Three (Tonight)” and “Go Daddy-O” were featured in the 1996 film, “Swingers,” starring Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau. Taking the stage with the full symphony orchestra led by Principal Pops Conductor Richard Kaufman, BBVD promises to have the audience swinging in the aisles and grooving to the beats with high-energy songs like “Mr. Pinstripe Suite,” “I Wanna Be Like You” and music from their newest album, “Rattle Them Bones.”

The New York Philharmonic will mark Glenn Dicterow's farewell - following 34 years as Concertmaster, the longest tenure of any concertmaster in Philharmonic history - with the release of New York Philharmonic Presents: The Glenn Dicterow Collection, three albums on the New York Philharmonic label featuring Mr. Dicterow's favorite solo performances from 1982 to 2012. The first album will be available on CD, which comes with a 90-page commemorative booklet that includes program notes with Mr. Dicterow's comments, essays about Mr. Dicterow by Alan Gilbert and Archivist/Historian Barbara Haws, photographs, and a complete list of Mr. Dicterow's solo performances. It will also be available as a download on iTunes and Amazon.com. The second and third albums will be available as downloads only. The CD and booklet are $16.99; the downloads are $9.99 each or $24.99 for all three downloadable albums. The collection, distributed by Naxos, is now available for pre-order; it will be available for purchase and download on nyphil.org/DicterowCollection beginning June 3.

Lupita Nyong'o has signed on to star in the highly anticipated upcoming installment of STAR WARS: EPISODE VII.

The Cleveland POPS Orchestra traditional patriotic concert features the 122nd Army Band of the Ohio National Guard. Cleveland POPS Chorus lends its impressive collective voice to Cleveland's most cherished tribute to our heroes, along with the Mutual Gifts Gospel Choir. Military-inspired, patriotic music and sing-alongs. Hear the marvelous 2013 co-winner of the Jean L. Petitt Memorial Music Scholarship, 17-year old violinist Maria Beltavski.Sponsored by MEDICAL MUTUAL