Legendary saxophonist and woodwind specialist talks his career as studio musician in Los Angeles, from his early days as session player to his collaborations with Maestro John Williams, including the stunning alto saxophone solos he performed on the score for Steven Spielberg’s 2002 film Catch Me If You Can
French Horn player extraordinaire talks his life and career as studio musician in Hollywood and his many collaborations with John Williams, including his work as Principal Horn on The Post and the recent Star Wars sequels The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker, sharing his views on the Maestro’s music
Talented Los Angeles-based cellist talks on her career as studio musician in Hollywood, her friendship with Yo-Yo Ma and her experiences playing for John Williams on many film soundtracks and recordings
Special podcast episode dedicated to John Williams’ iconic scores for the legendary film series, with a focus on the last work for the Saga, The Rise of Skywalker
Special guests: Doug Adams, Frank Lehman, Jim Ware
With The Rise of Skywalker, composer John Williams has completed his own musical cycle, putting the final coda on a rich musical glossary he started to work on 42 years earlier. When the composer wrote and recorded that film score in 1977, he couldn’t imagine how big the impact of his music would have been, and how long it would have resonated with audiences throughout the subsequent decades. As he told recently to film journalist and film music historian Jon Burlingame:
“Forty years ago, if you said to me, ‘Here’s a project, John, and I want you to write 25 hours of music,’ I would have dropped my pencil case and said, ‘It’s impossible. No one can do that,’”
Yet the composer was able to return to that musical world always with the same amount of enthusiasm, creativity, and devotion for all the subsequent scores he penned for the intergalactic space opera initiated by George Lucas, which now covers a time span of almost half of his life.
The legendary Music Contractor talks about her 50+ years career in Hollywood’s film music industry and her long and fruitful collaboration with composer John Williams
The internationally acclaimed violinist talks with The Legacy of John Williams about her collaboration with the composer and their stunning recording project Across The Stars, featuring all-new arrangements of Williams’ iconic film themes rewritten especially for her.
Music Theorist and Film Musicologist from Tufts University talks about how John Williams’s film scores shaped his interest in music and his path to academia, with a spotlight on his catalogue of the themes and motifs from the Star Wars saga
Hosted by Maurizio Caschetto
Frank Lehman, Associate Professor of Music at Tufts University (Photo: Alison Bruzek/WBUR)