By Bella Whitmore | Intern
Welcome to Jurassic Park … but in Waco. For one night only, the Waco Symphony Orchestra will play the iconic movie score accompanied by the HD picture at Waco Hall.
“Jurassic Park” is one of the most widely-known blockbuster movies across generations. Carolyn Bess, executive director of the Waco Symphony Association, spoke on the inspiration behind the concert decisions and the director’s personal connection to the iconic score.
“We have been wanting to program multimedia concerts and concerts that combine art forms in creative ways, as well as expand our audiences to attract younger people as well as families,” Bess said. “We feel ‘Jurassic Park’ can help us achieve those goals. Our new music director and conductor Lawrence “Larry” Loh is one of the most sought-after film concert conductors in the country, and he has worked frequently with the iconic composer John Williams, who created the music score for this film.”
Beyond the music, the film will be played alongside the orchestral performance to enhance the experience and make it more engaging for the audience.
“It is a completely elevated analog musical experience,” Loh said. “The music from Jurassic Park is one of John Williams’s most iconic scores, and to hear it performed live while the film is being projected puts the music at another level. Sometimes in the original movie, the digital soundtrack is very much in the background, but at our concert, you’ll be able to hear every note alongside the dialogue and sound effects.”
According to Bess, to make a show like this happen, it’s all hands on deck. From the different instrument groups to the conductor to the event coordinators, the process of preparing for this concert is difficult.
“’80 musicians from the Waco Symphony Orchestra will be performing the music score live and the orchestra only rehearses twice before the concert,” Bess said. “It’s quite a feat for our conductor to coordinate the timings of the orchestra and music in sync with the film. We have a tech director, sound and lighting engineers and a stage manager making the stage experience an impactful and seamless one.”
Above all the logistics and planning behind the concert, at the heart of the music is the film lovers and the community of people who have loved and grown up watching the film and listening to the music.
“It’s a great way to experience this film as a community,” Loh said. “The audience will be filled with super-fans who know this movie backward and forwards, along with people who have never seen it.”
The concert will take place at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, March 22, and will end at approximately 9:45 p.m. The event will also count as a Creative Arts Experience credit for CASA students, student tickets are $25 in the balcony seating area.
