As a self-professed Lord of the Rings nerd, I was thrilled to see the set included an arrangement from the LOTR score, written by Howard Shore himself (eek!) specifically for this concert — his contribution as a Berklee alum. Unfortunately, his current project prevented him from traveling to Boston to guest conduct the piece.
A little later, Alan Silvestri walked out on stage to guest conduct his own arrangements of the Back to the Future and Forrest Gump scores. Ian and I immediately thought of our friend Ben, a composer and Back to the Future nut. Ben has admitted to watching the trilogy multiple times in a single weekend. We later spent a portion of intermission imagining Ben's reaction — would he have fainted? yelled? tweeted? (yes.)
Keith's music, inspired by the Twilight saga, was beautiful and moving (and I've never even read the books). He scored the story before the movies were made, which is a testament to his talent and creativity. At intermission, he informed us Alan congratulated him with a hug and emphatically told Keith the piece was incredible. We made sure to get Keith's autograph now, as an investment piece.
Also during intermission, Dan and Kristin, our double date for the evening, informed us they are expecting. I know it was April Fool's. It wasn't a joke. Really.
When the concert resumed, the orchestra performed what it does best — video game music. The director/electric guitar player was very animated, and treated the performance more like a rock concert than a symphony. Very fitting, as the style is a mash up of classical music and rock anthems. We also enjoyed the guest conductor Wataru Hokoyama (AFRIKA and Resident Evil composer), who, as he walked on stage, paused to conduct the audience applause before stepping up to the podium. I was surprised and impressed at how serious, moving and epic video game music is, and at how much I enjoyed it since I'm awful at them.
After the concert, Ian and I decided the old, classical composers would appreciate how their style of music continues to be relevant, even if it's mixed with sweet guitar licks. And we tucked Keith's signature in a safe place. I have a feeling we could make a profit very soon...