In all of cinematic history, no film composer has loomed larger than John Williams. Over a seven-decade career, the five-time Oscar winner has scored over 100 films including such blockbusters as “Jaws,” “ET. The Extra-Terrestrial,” “Jurassic Park” and “Saving Private Ryan.” In addition, Williams has composed such iconic melodies as Olympic Fanfare and Theme for the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles and “The Mission,” the TV theme for NBC’s Nightly News. Celebrate Williams’ 95th birthday with TPS tubist Cristina Cutts as soloist in Williams’ Tuba Concerto; concertmaster Rolf Haas in the Theme from “Schindler’s List;” and flutist Viviana Cumplido Wilson and cellist Melita Hunsinger in Sayuri’s Theme from “Memoirs of a Geisha.” Paolo Bortolameolli leads the orchestra in the Main Title and Finale from “Star Wars,” the march from “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” a suite from the Harry Potter films, and highlights from “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” and more.

EPSG:4326

John Williams’ Epic 95th Birthday Celebration

Phoenix Convention Center

Music revised or reimagined for other occasions is a theme of this program. Though Wolfgang Mozart’s Flute Concerto in D Major began life as a work for oboe, Mozart rearranged it a year later, in a new key, for flute and orchestra to fulfill a commission. TPS principal flutist Viviana Cumplido-Wilson is soloist in the sparkling showpiece for flute, backed by witty and charming orchestral accompaniment. Composed to express some of the challenges facing society in the aftermath of World War II, Dmitri Shostakovich’s Chamber Symphony originally was a string quartet. Guest conductor Daniel Wiley leads an arrangement for orchestra created more than 40 years after its 1946 premiere. In 1817, Italian music was all the rage in Vienna. Channeling the effervescent spirit of opera composer Gioachino Rossini, who debuted “The Barber of Seville” one year earlier, Franz Schubert rose to the occasion to compose his Overture in the Italian Style in C Major.

Viviana Cumplido Wilson

Events

Upcoming events

5 - 7 Feb, 2027

John Williams’ Epic 95th Birthday Celebration · Phoenix Symphony

Apr 8, 2027

Viviana Performs Mozart · Phoenix Symphony

Future and recently performed repertoire

Flute in Memoirs of a Geisha by Williams

Phoenix Symphony

Flute in Flute Concerto in D major by Mozart

Phoenix Symphony

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