An evening with the Man

Last Friday, I went to Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall for the first time, to see the New York Philharmonic (for the first time), conducted by none other than JOHN WILLIAMS! (Last year, I wished I was in Boston because Williams conducted the Boston Pops in a program chock full of his work.)

I was so excited about this concert, which was half Williams' work, and half music from Stanley Donen movies. I got to hear music from Harry Potter, Memoirs from a Geisha, Hook, and Jane Eyre. From the Donen portion, a huge projection screen hung over the orchestra. Donen, the special guest host, discussed the upcoming clip (such as Royal Wedding and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers) with Williams, and then they'd start the clip with original sound, and fade out the sound while the orchestra took up where it left off. It was absolutely magical.

The last item on the program was a Lucasfilms/Spielberg tribute, with matching film clips. It started with Jaws, segued right into Star Wars (cue thunderous applause), into Indiana Jones, and ended on E.T.. My hands hurt from clapping so hard that night.

The audience gave four standing ovations, and the orchestra played three Williams-composed encore pieces. The concert was supposed to last two hours, but turned out to be two and a half hours in the end. The first was the theme from Sugarland Express, second was Olympic Spirit, which was super exciting for me because I played it in marching band my sophomore year in high school, and third was The Mission (a.k.a. the theme from NBC News).

It was the best concert I've ever been to, and definitely worth every penny. If another opportunity to see Williams presents itself, I will go again, and this time Josh will go.