‘Hollywood’s Greatest Hits,’ a weekend of summer pops, will run Aug. 23-25 at Medford’s Craterian Theater
By Jim Flint
The Rogue Valley Symphony is going to the movies in August.
The movie industry traditionally trots out its blockbusters every summer, when schools are on summer break and families take their vacations.
RVS will launch its own blockbuster, “Hollywood’s Greatest Hits,” at 7:30 pm. Friday, Aug. 23, and at 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 24 and 25. All three summer pops concerts will be performed at Medford’s Craterian Theater.
Ticket sales for season subscriptions and individual concerts are now open to the public at rvsymphony.org or by calling 541-708-6400.
Film music is something the RVS has never explored before.
“There is an incredible wealth of exciting, full-blooded symphonic scores written for the movies,” said Martin Majkut, Rogue Valley Symphony’s music director, who noted the availability of a huge archive of such material.
“We would have to play many more concerts before we ran out of good movie music,” he said.
Highlights
The concert will feature music from “Lawrence of Arabia,” “Dr. Zhivago,” “Vertigo,” “Jaws,” “Forrest Gump,” “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” “Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves,” “The Addams Family,” “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” “Krull,” “Mission Impossible,” “Star Wars” and “Indiana Jones.”
“They all pull on my heartstrings differently,” Majkut said. “I wanted to include both the classic Hollywood titles and the contemporary hits. This way, the listeners can enjoy a great variety of film music styles.”
Majkut provided a sneak peek into some of the numbers that will be performed.
“Several scores by John Williams are veritable blockbusters, such as ‘Star Wars’ and ‘Indiana Jones,’” he said. “But how about music from Hitchcock’s ‘Vertigo’? How about ‘Dr. Zhivago’ and ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ and ‘Forrest Gump’?”
Rogue Valley connection
Majkut said one special treat will be the music from “Krull,” a sci-fi/fantasy title from the 1980s.
“It has great music written by the young James Horner.”
There is a Rogue Valley connection as well.
“’Krull’ was produced by Ron Silverman, a film, theater and music aficionado who lives at the Rogue Valley Manor, and has joined the RVS board of directors,” Majkut said.
Most of the symphonic arrangements came from Mepro, a music publisher based in Vienna.
With film music, especially the more contemporary fare, one can expect a heavy engagement of brass and percussion sections.
“Trumpets and horns will have so many gorgeous solos,” he said. “You will also hear an alto saxophone solo in ‘Moon River’ from ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’ by Angel McDonald.”
Watching the films
Majkut said he will try to watch all relevant scenes from the featured movies when prepping for the concert to remind himself of their feel and atmosphere.
The deets
“Hollywood’s Greatest Hits,” summer pops concerts at the Craterian Theater in Medford. When: 7:30 p.m. Aug. 23 and 3 p.m. Aug. 24 and 25. Tickets: rvsymphony.org or call 541-708-6400.
“Since we are not accompanying movies at this concert, in terms of conducting, it is exactly like conducting Beethoven or Brahms,” he said.
Most RVS concerts are performed at three different venues — the SOU Music Recital Hall in Ashland, the Craterian, and the Grants Pass Performing Arts Center.
RVS chose the Craterian for all three summer pops concerts partly due to availability issues, but also because of its good HVAC system and air filters. “So, we are better protected from the heat and the potential smoke,” Majkut said.
“Hollywood’s Greatest Hits” is the second summer pops concert for RVS, with more expected in the future. Its holiday pops concert was a sellout at OSF’s Bowmer Theatre.
“We are very proud of our Masterworks series,” Majkut said. “And we will keep looking for every opportunity to expand beyond what is traditionally heard in the concert hall. Pops, collaborations, cross-genre events and outdoor performances are all on the table.”
This year’s holiday pops in the Bowmer will feature a Florida gospel choir.
For more information about RVS performances, how to support it, and to purchase tickets, go to rvsymphony.org.
Freelance writer Jim Flint is a retired newspaper publisher and editor. Email him via [email protected].
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