Speakeysie News Desk- August 29, 2022

ATLANTA – This week, the Grammy® Award-winning Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (ASO) has announced a new film addition to the Movies in Concert series lineup. On May 13 & 14, 2023the ASO will present Star Wars: The Force Awakens In Concert featuring a screening of the complete film with Oscar®-winning composer John Williams’ musical score performed live to the film. The concerts will be led by guest conductor Christopher Confessore. 

Since the release of the first Star Wars movie over 40 years ago, the Star Wars saga has had a seismic impact on both cinema and culture-inspiring audiences around the world with its mythic storytelling, captivating characters, groundbreaking special effects and iconic musical scores composed by Williams.

Fans will be able to experience the scope and grandeur of this beloved film in a live symphonic concert experience, when Star Wars: The Force Awakens debuts on May 13 & 14, 2023. Tickets become available today, August 26 at noon at ticketmaster.com. More information on the Movies in Concert series can be found at aso.org/movies.

Thirty years since the destruction of the second Death Star, the sinister First Order, commanded by the mysterious Snoke and apprentice Kylo Ren, rise from the ashes of the Empire. The Resistance, led by General Leia Organa, attempts to thwart the First Order’s threat, but they’re desperate for help. Rey, a desert scavenger, and Finn, an ex-stormtrooper, find themselves joining forces with Han Solo and Chewbacca in a desperate mission to return a BB-unit droid with a map to Luke Skywalker back to the Resistance. 

Legendary composer Williams is well known for scoring all nine of the Star Wars saga films, beginning with 1977’s Star Wars: A New Hope for which he earned an Academy Award® for Best Original Score. His scores for The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker were each nominated for Best Original Score.

Williams has won five Academy Awards, four Golden Globe® Awards, seven British Academy Film Awards, five Emmy® Awards and 25 Grammy® Awards. With 52 Academy Award nominations, Williams is the Academy’s most nominated living person and the second most-nominated individual in history, after Walt Disney. In 2005, the American Film Institute selected Williams’ score to 1977’s Star Wars: A New Hope as the greatest American film score of all time. The soundtrack to A New Hope also was preserved by the Library of Congress in the National Recording Registry, for being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.” Williams was inducted into the Hollywood Bowl’s Hall of Fame in 2000, and he received the Kennedy Center Honors in 2004, the National Medal of Arts in 2009, and the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2016. Williams has composed the scores for eight of the top 20 highest-grossing films at the U.S. box office (adjusted for inflation).

The Star Wars: Film Concert Series is produced under license by Disney Concerts in association with 20^th Century Fox and Warner/Chappell Music.

STAR WARS and related properties are trademarks and/or copyrights, in the United States and other countries, of Lucasfilm Ltd. and/or its affiliates. © & TM

About Disney Concerts
Disney Concerts is the concert production and licensing division of Disney Music Group, the music arm of The Walt Disney Company.  Disney Concerts produces concerts and tours, and licenses Disney music and visual content to symphony orchestras and presenters on a worldwide basis.  Disney Concerts’ concert packages include a variety of formats, such as “live to picture” film concerts and themed instrumental and vocal compilation concerts and range from instrumental-only symphonic performances to multimedia productions featuring live vocalists and choir.  Current titles include the Star Wars Film Concert Series, Toy Story, Aladdin, The Muppet Christmas Carol, Disney Princess – The Concert, Coco, The Lion King, Up and The Nightmare Before Christmas.  

About the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
Celebrating its 78th season, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra continues to affirm its position as one of America’s leading orchestras with excellent live performances, renowned guest artist features and engaging education initiatives. As a cornerstone for artistic development in the Southeast, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra performs a full schedule of more than 150 concerts, including educational and community concerts, each year for a combined audience of more than a quarter-million people.