26 September 2017
Newsdesk
Star Trek, Lost and Star Wars: Episode VII director J. J. Abrams will join his friend and collaborator, movie music titan Michael Giacchino, at the composer’s 50th birthday party at the Royal Albert Hall later this month.
Abrams and War for the Planet of the Apes filmmaker Matt Reeves have been added to the stellar line-up of Giacchino’s first ever major career retrospective on Friday 20 October, which will showcase his scores from the likes of Rogue One, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Super 8, Jurassic World, The Incredibles, and Up – for which he won an Oscar, BAFTA, Grammy and Golden Globe.
Michael Giacchino said: “I am honoured that these incredible filmmakers are taking the time out of their schedules to join me on that stage at the Royal Albert Hall.
“I am fortunate to call them friends, and thrilled that they will be there to celebrate with me. In many ways, this is their show as well, because it was their vision and storytelling that inspired the music we'll be performing with the Cinematic Sinfonia that evening.”
Abrams and Reeves complete a virtual ‘who’s who’ of hot Hollywood filmmaking talent appearing on-stage at Michael Giacchino at 50, alongside Brad Bird, Pete Docter, Gareth Edwards, Andrew Stanton, Colin Trevorrow and Carlton Cuse. They’ll be on hand to introduce musical suites from their films – and to share the stories behind them.
The concert will be hosted by self-described “maker of things” Adam Savage, (from US TV sensation Mythbusters), who said: "As a movie geek, it's insane to think that Michael has penned music for many of my all-time favorite movies – hell, I think I have a costume or prop from nearly every one of his scored films! Being his friend is the icing on the cake. Emceeing his birthday at the Royal Albert Hall?! I have to pinch myself. It's going to be a stellar evening and I can't wait.”
Also announced today are Bond, the best-selling string quartet, who will play a new arrangement of ‘Married Life’ with orchestra, from Giacchino’s Oscar-winning score to Up.
Giacchino himself will share conducting duties with maestro Ludwig Wicki, a familiar face to fans of the Hall’s acclaimed ‘Films in Concert’ series, and the program will span Giacchino’s musical work from across the last 20 years, as well as giving the audience a personal glimpse of the composer through stories and home movies from his childhood.
Abrams and Giacchino have worked together since the hit TV series, Alias, and on feature films including Star Trek, Mission: Impossible 3, and Super 8. Reeves and Giacchino have collaborated four times, their most recent project being this summer’s critically-acclaimed War for the Planet of the Apes.
A portion of the proceeds from this concert will go directly to the Royal Albert Hall’s Education & Outreach projects to spread the positive powers of music to new audiences and communities.
Michael Giacchino at 50 is part of the Hall’s Festival of Film, which runs from 7 October to 3 November, and features 25 events across seven spaces, headlined by Film in Concert presentations of Jaws, Fantasia and The Addams Family, alongside a celebration of the legendary James Horner (Titanic, Aliens, Avatar) and a world premiere career retrospective of James Newton Howard (The Hunger Games, The Dark Knight, Fantastic Beasts).
Michael Giacchino at 50: A Birthday Gala Celebration
Royal Albert Hall, Kensington Gore, London, SW7 2AP
Friday 20 October, 7:30pm
Tickets from £28
www.royalalberthall.com / 020 7689 8212
