IN CONCERT
What: The Music of Star Wars featuring conductor Sean O鈥橪oughlin with the Victoria Symphony and Vox Humana Chamber Choir
Where: Royal Theatre, 805 Broughton St.
When: Saturday, Jan. 19, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.
Tickets: $31 鈥� $86 through , by phone at 250-386-6121, or in person at the Royal McPherson box office
Victoria Symphony principal pops conductor Sean O鈥橪oughlin points to a ski trip in Montreal as the moment that kickstarted his career as a composer.
Armed with a Sony Walkman and a cassette copy of 1977鈥檚 Star Wars soundtrack, the native New Yorker 鈥� then a high school music student 鈥� found solace during the five-hour drive to the ski hill through the work of Star Wars composer John Williams.
鈥淭hat was the seed that was planted in getting me to go from a trumpet player to a composer and conductor,鈥� O鈥橪oughlin, 46, said recently from his home in Los Angeles. 鈥淭hat music touched me in a way that inspired me to become a composer.鈥�
O鈥橪oughlin has gone on to a very successful career in music, ranging from performances as a conductor with the Boston Pops Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony and the Chicago Symphony to tours with Josh Groban and Sarah McLachlan, among others.
He returns to the Victoria Symphony this weekend for a pair of pops performances at the Royal Theatre that are near and dear to his heart: The Music of Star Wars, which features the work Williams made famous through the George Lucas franchise.
He knows the compositions intimately. When he first moved to Los Angeles to become a film composer, O鈥橪oughlin got a job working for a publishing company that counted Williams as a client.
Jolene King Music Service in Los Angeles was in charge of preparing all the music parts for the instrumentalists prior to recording sessions at Abbey Road Studios in London, and O鈥橪oughlin 鈥� a huge Stars Wars fan 鈥� was there when Williams鈥檚 charts for Star Wars: Episode III 鈥� Revenge of the Sith came into the office.
That was both a good and bad thing. 鈥淭he film music is broken into little segments, which they call cues, and each cue would tell you where it was used in the film,鈥� O鈥橪oughlin said. 鈥淚t also had a descriptor to tell you what the scene was about, so I remember cursing myself because I wanted to see the movie like everyone else, as a fan, and not know what was going to happen. Instead, I鈥檇 read: 鈥楽uch and such is dead.鈥� 鈥�
During the pops performances at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturday, O鈥橪oughlin will lead the Victoria Symphony through Battle of the Heroes, a piece from Star Wars: Episode III 鈥� Revenge of the Sith. He鈥檒l also touch on music by Williams for several other films in the franchise, including Main Title from the 1977 original and Princess Leia鈥檚 Theme, Imperial March and Yoda鈥檚 Theme from Star Wars: Episode V 鈥� The Empire Strikes Back.
O鈥橪oughlin is also excited about the involvement of the 24-member Vox Humana Chamber Choir, which will collaborate with the symphony on Duel of the Fates from Star Wars: Episode I 鈥� The Phantom Menace.
True to the version in the film, O鈥橪oughlin said the choir will sing in Sanskrit, and on James Horner鈥檚 Avatar Suite, the vocalists will sing in the made-up language of Na鈥檝i, which is how the creatures in the James Cameron film communicate in the 22nd century.
The music from the early Star Wars films, the majority of which earned Grammy Awards and Academy Awards for Williams, is as identifiable as any piece of pop music in history. Williams was well-versed in the history of musical accompaniment for the dramatic arts, and his scores are quite deep in terms of their construction, O鈥橪oughlin said.
鈥淗e used a lot of techniques that were right out of opera, like Wagner and all that. He used the leitmotif, assigning rhythmic and melodic ideas to each character, and then used that as the tool with which to tell the story. A lot of times, you could close your eyes and you would know if it was a chase scene, or if it was more of a dramatic scene. He truly is a storyteller, just with the music alone.鈥�
The Music of Star Wars will also include space-themed music from other inter-planetary film franchises, including Theme from Battlestar Galactica by Stu Philips and Glen Larson, Horner鈥檚 Avatar Suite and Michael Giancchino鈥檚 score for Star Trek.
It was important to include music from other films, especially pieces that aren鈥檛 overly familiar, O鈥橪oughlin said. 鈥淪ome are in the public consciousness, but there鈥檚 a few hidden gems in there that don鈥檛 really jump out to the casual listener. In life, we go through our daily routines. But it鈥檚 good to have something that transports you to a different place.鈥�
The conductor would not divulge several surprises he has planned this weekend, but he couldn鈥檛 keep secret the involvement of Emmy-nominated composer Craig Safan, who lives in Los Angeles.
Safan (who scored the TV series Cheers) will be on hand Saturday night to introduce the music he composed, conducted and produced for one of O鈥橪oughlin鈥檚 favourite films of the 1980s, The Last Starfighter.
鈥淚t kind of came and went as a blip on the radar,鈥� O鈥橪oughlin said of the 1984 cult classic. 鈥淏ut it was one of the first movies to use [computer-generated imagery].鈥�
O鈥橪oughlin met Safan at a concert in Los Angeles, where an orchestra performed the overture from The Last Starfighter.
鈥淲hen I put together a similar Star Wars program a few years ago, I reached out to him and asked if we could rent the music, and he said yes,鈥� O鈥橪oughlin said. 鈥淚 reached out to him again for our program in Victoria, and he one-upped me. He and his wife had never been to Victoria, and he said he鈥檇 love to come take in the concert.鈥�
Williams is credited with composing the score for eight of the top 20 highest-grossing films in U.S. box-office history, and his soundtrack music to several Steven Spielberg movies 鈥� from Jaws and Close Encounters of the Third Kind to Raiders of the Lost Ark and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial 鈥� earned Williams many of his 51 Academy Award nominations, the second-highest total in Oscar history behind Walt Disney.
O鈥橪oughlin isn鈥檛 surprised that Safan would travel to see his music performed by the Victoria Symphony, given the number of Williams compositions on the program Saturday.
鈥淚 remember going to see [Star Wars] when I was five years old, back when you had to wait in line to see a movie. But I always felt the music was something special. Without it, [Lucasfilm, the company behind Star Wars] doesn鈥檛 get bought by Disney for $4 billion. I truly believe that.鈥�
