American Youth Symphony To Present Jerry Goldsmith Project
The American Youth Symphony, in conjunction with the Film Music Society, will embark on a three-year multi-disciplinary project celebrating the music of Jerry Goldsmith with a symposium and an orchestral performance on December 7, at Royce Hall on the campus of the University of California at Los Angeles. Both events are free of charge. The project is supported in part by a gift from BMI.
Oscar-nominated composer David Newman, president of both the AYS and FMS, will conduct newly assembled suites from Goldsmith’s original, Oscar-nominated scores for A Patch of Blue, The Sand Pebbles and Patton, along with excerpts from Planet of the Apes and The Blue Max that Goldsmith himself arranged for concert performance.
In addition, Newman — as part of an afternoon symposium on Goldsmith’s early career — will conduct, live to film, a complete performance of one of the composer’s most famous television scores: His music for “The Invaders” episode of The Twilight Zone.
The December 7 events mark the beginning of a three-year American Youth Symphony project focusing on Jerry Goldsmith, the Oscar- and Emmy-winning composer of such classic films as Planet of the Apes, Patton, Chinatown, The Omen, Star Trek: The Motion Picture and more than 150 others. One of the most respected composers in Hollywood history, Goldsmith died in 2004. He was a pivotal figure in advancing composition for film and television.
Newman has divided Goldsmith’s career into thirds. This year’s events will focus on Goldsmith’s work in television and his early career in feature films, from the late 1950s through 1970. In 2009-10, the focus will shift to Goldsmith’s work in the 1970s and early 1980s; and, in the following year, the 1980s and beyond.
The afternoon Goldsmith Project symposium, sponsored by The Film Music Society, will be moderated by journalist and film-music historian Jon Burlingame. Featured panelists will be composer Robert Drasnin, who worked on the original Twilight Zone and who knew Goldsmith well; Marc Scott Zicree, author of The Twilight Zone Companion, the definitive history of the show; Robert Townson, producer for the Varese Sarabande record label, who worked extensively with Goldsmith; Tommy Morgan, who played harmonica for Goldsmith on Twilight Zone and who also composed for the series; and Michael Lloyd, a film composer and Goldsmith expert.
The 25-minute, live-to-film performance of “The Invaders” with members of the AYS will be part of the two-hour symposium, beginning at 2 p.m. and also in Royce Hall. Clips from Goldsmith’s other work for the Rod Serling series will also be featured.
After the performance, Newman will join the panel for the discussion of Goldsmith’s music and the specific challenges associated with that show. “We want to show how unique this music is, and give it a context, filmic as well as historic,” Newman said.
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