The Houston Symphony will delight fans of the Harry Potter franchise with Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone in Concert July 21-22 as part of the Harry Potter Film Concert Series. Audiences will relive the magic of the film on a 40-foot high-definition screen while hearing the orchestra perform every note of the film’s unforgettable score by Academy Award-winning composer John Williams.
The orchestra will be led by Nicholas Buc, a composer, arranger, violinist, pianist, and conductor known for his passion for music and film. He has conducted Disney’s Pixar in Concert, Michael Giacchino’s Star Trek Live in Concert, Bernard Herrmann’s Psycho with Orchestra and most recently the Australian and Japanese premieres of Alan Silvestri’s Back to the Future Live in Concert. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone is a 2001 British-American fantasy film based on the novel of the same name by J.K. Rowling. The film was the first installment in the long-running Harry Potter film series, which follows Harry Potter, a young boy rescued from the neglect of his aunt and uncle and goes on to fulfill his destiny while attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Justin Freer, President of CineConcerts and producer/conductor of the Harry Potter Film Concert Series explains, “The Harry Potter film series is a once-in-a-lifetime cultural phenomenon that continues to delight millions of fans around the world. It is with great pleasure that we introduce for the first time ever an opportunity to experience the award-winning music scores played live by a symphony orchestra, all while the beloved film is simultaneously projected onto the big screen. It will be an unforgettable event.” Brady Beaubien of CineConcerts and producer for the Harry Potter Film Concert Series added, “Harry Potter is synonymous with excitement around the entire world and we hope that by performing this incredible music with the full movie, audiences will enjoy returning to this magical world, and to the many wonderful characters that inhabit it.”
The concert will take place at Jones Hall for the Performing Arts, 615 Louisiana Street, in Houston’s Theater District. For tickets and information, please call (713) 224-7575 or visit www.houstonsymphony.org. Tickets may also be purchased at the Houston Symphony Patron Services Center in Jones Hall (Monday–Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.). All programs and artists are subject to change.
HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER’S STONE IN CONCERT
Friday, July 21, 2017, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, July 22, 2017, 2:30 and 7:30 p.m.
Nicholas Buc, conductor
Tickets from $23
About Nicholas Buc
Nicholas Buc is a composer, conductor, arranger, violinist and pianist. He studied composition with Brenton Broadstock and Dr. Stuart Greenbaum at the University of Melbourne, where he received the inaugural Fellowship of Australian Composers Award. He recently completed a Master’s degree in Scoring for Film and Multimedia at New York University, as the recipient of the Brian May Scholarship for Australian film composers. Nicholas is regularly commissioned and some of his works have been premiered by the Royal Melbourne Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir, The Australian Voices, the Melbourne Chamber Orchestra, the Benaud Trio and Concordis Chamber Choir. He has also written for film and television, with some of his work being screened at festivals and theatres around Australia, Asia and the US. In 2007 he was nominated for “Best Original Song Composed for the Screen” in the APRA-AGSC Screen Music Awards, and in 2015 was a winning finalist of the NYU Film Scoring Competition. Nicholas has worked with pop sensation Tina Arena on six Australian tours, writing new orchestral arrangements and conducting the Sydney, Queensland, Adelaide and West Australian symphony orchestras. He has also written arrangements for The Whitlams, Passenger, Stu Larsen and Swiss folk rock group 77 Bombay Street, as well as working on the first four seasons of The Voice Australia. Recent conducting engagements include concerts with Grammy-winning trumpeter Chris Botti, Amanda Palmer of The Dresden Dolls fame and the Australian national tour for singersongwriter Ben Folds. Continuing his passion for music and film, he has conducted Disney’s Pixar in Concert, Michael Giacchino’s Star Trek Live in Concert, Bernard Herrmann’s Psycho with Orchestra and most recently the Australian and Japanese premieres of Alan Silvestri’s Back to the Future Live in Concert.
About the Houston Symphony
During the 2017-18 season, the Houston Symphony celebrates its fourth season with Music Director Andrés Orozco- Estrada, and continues its second century as one of America’s leading orchestras with a full complement of concert, community, education, touring and recording activities. The Houston Symphony, one of the oldest performing arts organizations in Texas, held its inaugural performance at The Majestic Theater in downtown Houston June 21, 1913. Today, with an annual operating budget of $33.9 million, the full-time ensemble of 88 professional musicians presents nearly 170 concerts annually, making it the largest performing arts organization in Houston. Additionally, musicians of the orchestra and the Symphony’s four Community-Embedded Musicians offer over 900 community-based performances each year, reaching thousands of people in Greater Houston. For tickets and more information, please visit www.houstonsymphony.org or call 713-224- 7575.