Back in 2019 before every conversation we had centered around COVID, Tucson Symphony Orchestra would devote the weekend after Thanksgiving to its popular family-friendly cine-concert series.
That's where the orchestra in all its glory and sometimes dressed down for the occasion performed the live soundtrack to a major movie playing on a big screen above the orchestra at Tucson Music Hall.
It was a great way to get folks to see the symphony oftentimes for the first time in a setting that felt comfortable and familiar β the movies.
Of course the pandemic put the kibosh on cine-concerts in 2020 and 2021, but this weekend the orchestra is reviving it with βStar Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.β
How can you go wrong with βStar Wars,β right?
And what better soundtrack than John Williams booming score that is instantly recognizable and universally adored.
A couple of fun facts to tuck away before you catch the concert/movie this weekend:
βStar Warsβ falls into the film subgenre of βspace opera,β which borrows from science fiction and rom-dram β romantic dramas.
Williams recorded the soundtrack with the London Symphony Orchestra six months before the film was released in spring 1980. The recording cost $250,000, involved 104 musicians performing 18 three-hour sessions after Christmas 1979 and earned Williams a Grammy and an Academy Award nomination.
In November 2020, Disney released a double-vinyl LP of the soundtrack to commemorate its 40th anniversary.
This is the second film in the βStar Warsβ franchise that the TSO has performed. In 2018, over Thanksgiving weekend, the TSO performed the original βStar Wars.β
If you go: Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 11, and 4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 12, at Tucson Music Hall, 260 S. Church Ave. Tickets are $17 to $88 through tucsonsymphony.org and all in attendance must follow COVID safety protocols that includes showing proof of vaccination or a negative test taken within 72 hours of the performance. Masks are required.
Dove of Peace concert goes virtual
Dove of Peace Lutheran Church is taking its next community concert virtual after the church decided last week to move all its services and events online in response to the rise in COVID cases in Pima County.
The Feb. 13 concert, part of the church's series of free concerts that support local non-profits, will feature a double bill β classical guitarist Bin Hu performing works by Mauro Giuliani, Eduardo Sainz de la Maza, AgustΓn Barrios MangorΓ© and JoaquΓn Turina; and flamenco guitarist Misael Barraza-Diaz performing his original works.
The concert starts at 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 13, and can be live-streamed through the church's website, doveofpeacetucson.org. Admission is free but donations are being accepted to support TIHAN, the nonprofit Tucson Interfaith HIV/AIDS Network.
