Hartford Symphony Orchestra Kicks off POPS! Series with Music from Tim Burton Films

From Hartford Symphony Orchestra:

The Hartford Symphony Orchestra presents the 2016 Emmy Award-winning Danny Elfman’s Music from the Films of Tim Burton on Saturday, Oct. 22 at 7:30 p.m. at The Bushnell in Hartford. This concert, which features the superb CONCORA choir and is conducted by Sarah Hicks, is part of HSO’s 2016-2017 POPS! Series, sponsored by United Technologies. For tickets and information, visit the Hartford Symphony Orchestra website.

To celebrate the spooky season, audience members who come in costume will be entered to win tickets to HSO concerts!

Composer Danny Elfman and visionary Hollywood filmmaker Tim Burton have created a unique concert experience, blending music and visuals to celebrate the three decades-long partnership of two of Hollywood’s top creators. This live concert features Elfman’s celebrated film scores brought to life on stage by orchestra and choir, enhanced by the stunning visuals of Burton’s original sketches, drawings, story boards and film clips rendered in exquisite detail on the big screen. Featuring music from Batman, Edward Scissorhands, Beetlejuice, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Alice in Wonderland and more! This month, Danny Elfman’s Music from the films of Tim Burton won two 2016 Emmy Awards: Outstanding Music Direction and Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Variety Show or Special.

Over the last 30 years, four-time Oscar nominee Danny Elfman has established himself as one of the most versatile and accomplished film composers in the industry. He has collaborated with such directors as Tim Burton, Gus Van Sant, Sam Raimi, Paul Haggis, Ang Lee, Rob Marshall, Guillermo del Toro, Brian De Palma and Peter Jackson. Beginning with his first score on Tim Burton’s Peewee’s Big Adventure, Elfman has scored a broad range of films, including Milk (Oscar-nominated), Good Will Hunting (Oscar-nominated), Big Fish (Oscar-nominated), Men in Black (Oscar nominated), Edward Scissorhands, Wanted, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Mission: Impossible, Planet of the Apes, A Simple Plan, To Die For, Spider-Man I and II, Batman, Dolores Claiborne, Sommersby, Chicago, Dick Tracy, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Alice in Wonderland, David O. Russell’s award-winning films Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle, Sam Raimi’s Oz: The Great and Powerful, Mr. Peabody and Sherman, the Errol Morris documentary The Unknown Known: The Life and Times of Donald Rumsfeld and Tim Burton’s Big Eyes. Most recently, he has provided the music for Fifty Shades of Grey and Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron.

A native of Los Angeles, Elfman grew up loving film music. He traveled the world as a young man, absorbing its musical diversity. He helped found the band Oingo Boingo and came to the attention of a young Tim Burton, who asked him to write the score for Pee-wee’s Big Adventure. 25 years later, the two have forged one of the most fruitful composer-director collaborations in film history. In addition to his film work, Elfman wrote the iconic theme music for the television series The Simpsons and Desperate Housewives. He also composed a ballet, Rabbit and Rogue, choreographed by Twyla Tharp, a symphony entitled Serenada Schizophrana for Carnegie Hall, an overture called The Overeager Overture for the Hollywood Bowl, and Iris—a Cirque du Soleil show.

“Having a particular style is not bad,” says Elfman, “but I prefer to push myself in the direction of being a composer who you never know what he’s doing next.”

Tim Burton is widely regarded as one of the cinema’s most imaginative filmmakers, has enjoyed great success in both the live-action and animation arenas. Most recently Burton directed Big Eyes and the critically acclaimed Frankenweenie, which was a 2012 Academy Award® nominee for Best Animated Picture. Earlier in 2012, Burton directed Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Helena Bonham Carter and Eva Green in the gothic thriller Dark Shadows, based on the cult favorite television show. He also produced the fantasy horror Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, which was directed by Timur Behmambetov.

In 2010, he directed Alice in Wonderland, an epic fantasy based on the classic story by Lewis Carroll and starring Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Anne Hathaway and Mia Wasikowska in the title role. The film earned more than a billion dollars at the worldwide box office, making it the second-highest-grossing release of 2010. Alice in Wonderland also received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Picture – Musical or Comedy and won two Academy Awards® for Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design.

Burton was previously honored with an Academy Award® nomination for Best Animated Feature for the 2005 stop-motion film Corpse Bride, which he directed and produced. He earlier received BAFTA Award and Critics’ Choice Award nominations for Best Director for the acclaimed fantasy drama Big Fish. More recently, Burton won a National Board of Review Award and garnered Golden Globe and Critics’ Choice Award nominations for his directing work on Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, which also won the Golden Globe for Best Film – Musical or Comedy. Depp earned an Oscar® nomination for his performance in the title role of Burton’s 2007 film adaptation of the Stephen Sondheim musical thriller, also starring Bonham Carter and Alan Rickman.

Burton began his film career in animation and, in 1982, directed the stop-motion animated short Vincent, narrated by Vincent Price, which was an award winner on the film festival circuit. He made his feature film directorial debut in 1985 with the hit comedy Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure. In 1988, Burton helmed the inventive comedy hit Beetlejuice, starring Michael Keaton as the title character. He then re-teamed with Keaton on the action blockbuster Batman, which became the top-grossing film of 1989 and also starred Jack Nicholson as the Joker, and Batman Returns, also starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Danny DeVito. In 1990, Burton directed, co-wrote and produced the romantic fantasy Edward Scissorhands, which was acclaimed by both critics and audiences. The film also marked the start of his successful cinematic partnership with Johnny Depp, who delivered a poignant performance in the title role. Their subsequent collaborations include the Burton-directed films Ed Wood, also starring Martin Landau in an Oscar® -winning portrayal of Bela Lugosi; Sleepy Hollow, adapted from the classic tale by Washington Irving, and the 2005 worldwide smash Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which was based on Roald Dahl’s beloved book and grossed more than $470 million worldwide.

Noted in the New York Times, Sarah Hicks' versatile and vibrant musicianship has secured her place in "the next generation of up-and-coming American conductors.” She currently holds the positions of principal conductor, Pops and Presentations of the Minnesota Orchestra and Staff Conductor of the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. Throughout her career, she has collaborated with diverse artists such as Jamie Laredo, Ben Folds, Hilary Hahn, Josh Groban, Smokey Robinson, Sting, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Sumi Jo and Jackie Evancho.

Sarah Hicks has guest conducted extensively both in the U.S. and abroad, including the Philadelphia Orchestra; Chicago, San Francisco, Atlanta, Milwaukee, Detroit, National, Indianapolis and Phoenix Symphonies; Orchestra of la Teatro Fenice; and the Los Angeles Philharmonic in July 4th concerts at the Hollywood Bowl in 2012 and 2013. Upcoming concerts include return engagements in San Francisco and Philadelphia as well as debuts with the Boston Pops, Pittsburgh Symphony and Cincinnati Pops.

Photo courtesy of Pixabay