Superhero Soundtracks by the Golden State Pops Orchestra

Golden State Pops Orchestra Presents

SUPERHERO SOUNDTRACKS

At The Warner Grand Theatre

Saturday, April 18th, 2015

WHAT:

A superhero is not a superhero without tights and a cape…or a rousing theme song!  The Golden State Pops Orchestra brings these iconic melodies to life in Superhero Soundtracks!  This exhilarating adventure through the soundtracks of favorite heroes includes a special segment of the concert dedicated to the recent Marvel blockbusters Iron Man, Captain America, Thor and The Avengers.  Other music to be performed includes themes from Superman, The Dark Knight, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, X-Men and music from the new Marvel television show, Agent Carter.


WHO: 

Golden State Pops Orchestra and Choir

Special Guests:

Craig Safan (The Last Starfighter)

Christopher Lennertz (Agent Carter)

Jason Livesay (X-Men: Days of Future Past)

Plus surprise guests


WHEN:

Saturday, April 18th, 2015
8:00 PM


WHERE:

Warner Grand Theatre
478 W 6th St, San Pedro, CA 90731


WHY:

To experience an evening of enthralling superhero music from current blockbusters to past favorites performed by the leading film music orchestra in the United States.


HOW:

Ticket prices range from $28.50 to $60.00 and they are sold through the orchestra’s website (www.GSPO.com). For additional information you may visit the website or call 310-433-8774.

http://www.gspo.com/seasons/2014/9/14/superhero-soundtracks

2013 BMI Film & TV Awards - Composer Interviews

On May 15th, BMI (Broadcast Music, Inc.) held their annual awards gala, The Film & TV Awards, where they honor the composers of the years top-grossing films and top-rated television programs.

As they have done of late, they offer short videos with many of the top composers in the industry via their Youtube channel.  They've created a playlist of them all, which we offer to you above.  Interviews included are:  Christopher Lennertz, John Williams, Brian Tyler, Mark Isham, Cliff Martinez, Mike Post, David Buckley, Nathan Barr, Theodore Shapiro, iZler, Blake Neely and more!

As always, its great to see and hear from the people behind some of the past year's best music.  In addition to Cliff Martinez (this year's recipient of the Richard Kirk Award winner), Christopher Lennertz shares about playing the role of James Bond as a 9-year-old.  John Williams talks about scoring Lincoln (and looks great... strong enough to pull the ears off a gundark...or score a Star Wars film or something.).  Mark Isham shares about scoring the weekly "Once Upon a Time" and biopic "42." while David Buckley shares about scoring season-to-season on The Good Wife.  Brian Tyler talks about scoring a "post-Avengers" film, Iron Man 3, and iZLER reveals how gratifying and hair-raising it is to score two TV series at one time:  Revenge and Shameless.

Give the entire playlist a listen above and you can see a list of ALL the winners below:


RICHARD KIRK AWARD

CLIFF MARTINEZ

ACADEMY AWARD WINNERS

MYCHAEL DANNA
Life of Pi

ADELE (PRS)
"Skyfall," from Skyfall

BMI FILM MUSIC AWARDS

ALAN SILVESTRI
The Avengers

THOMAS NEWMAN
Skyfall

DANNY ELFMAN
Oz the Great and Powerful

JOHN WILLIAMS
Lincoln

DANNY ELFMAN
Men in Black 3

BRIAN TYLER
Iron Man 3

ALAN SILVESTRI
The Croods

MARK MOTHERSBAUGH
Hotel Transylvania

NATHANIEL MECHALY (SACEM)
Taken 2

ALEXANDRE DESPLAT (SACEM)
Argo

CHRISTOPHER LENNERTZ
Identity Thief

DANNY ELFMAN
Silver Linings Playbook

MYCHAEL DANNA
Life of Pi

ALEXANDRE DESPLAT (SACEM)
Rise of the Guardians

ALEXANDRE DESPLAT (SACEM)
Zero Dark Thirty

ALAN SILVESTRI
Flight

CHRISTOPHER LENNERTZ
Think Like A Man

THEODORE SHAPIRO
The Campaign

BRIAN TYLER
The Expendables 2

JOE KRAEMER
Jack Reacher

DANNY ELFMAN
Dark Shadows

AARON ZIGMAN
Madea's Witness Protection

STEVE JABLONSKY
Battleship

ALAN MENKEN
Mirror Mirror

JOHN OTTMAN
Jack the Giant Slayer

THEODORE SHAPIRO
Hope Springs

MARK ISHAM
The Lucky One

HARRY GREGSON-WILLIAMS
Total Recall

LYLE WORKMAN
American Reunion

AARON ZIGMAN
Escape From Planet Earth

BMI SPECIAL CITATION OF APPRECIATION

LAURA DUNN

BMI MINISERIES MUSIC AWARD

TONY MORALES
Hatfields & McCoys

BMI TELEVISION MUSIC AWARDS

BRIAN KIRK
NCIS

CHUCK LORRE
Two and a Half Men

BLAKE NEELY
Golden Boy

JOS JORGENSEN
America's Got Talent

ANDY LOVE
America's Got Talent

BLAKE NEELY
The Mentalist

PETE TOWNSHEND (PRS)
CSI

CHRISTOPHER FRANKE
The Amazing Race

VAUGHN JOHNSON
The Amazing Race

LEE SANDERS
The Amazing Race

MARK MANCINA
Criminal Minds

ROB SIMONSEN
Blue Bloods

ROB CAIRNS
The Bachelor

GEORGE RITTER
Rules of Engagement

BERT SELEN
Rules of Engagement

CHRISTOPHER LENNERTZ
Revolution

KEITH POWER (SOCAN)
Hawaii Five-0

BRIAN TYLER
Hawaii Five-0

CARIM CLASMANN (PRS)
Grey's Anatomy

GALIA DURANT (PRS)
Grey's Anatomy

PETER BJORN AND JOHN (STIM)
2 Broke Girls

JOHN FRIZZELL
The Following

PETE TOWNSHEND (PRS)
CSI: NY

BILL BROWN
CSI: NY

KEB' MO'
Mike & Molly

DAVID BUCKLEY (PRS)
The Good Wife

JOS JORGENSEN
The X Factor

ANDY LOVE
The X Factor

SCOTT KIRKLAND
Bones

KENNETH BERRY
Undercover Boss

EHREN EBBAGE
Undercover Boss

MATT KOSKENMAKI
Undercover Boss

JOHN NOONEY
Undercover Boss

CRAIG OWENS
Undercover Boss

CHAD FISCHER
Scandal

iZLER
Revenge

CARTER BAYS
How I Met Your Mother

CRAIG THOMAS
How I Met Your Mother

MARK ISHAM
Once Upon a Time

MIKE POST
Law & Order: SVU

BLAKE NEELY
Arrow

BMI SPANISH-LANGUAGE TELEVISION MUSIC AWARDS

JOSE ANGEL
La Patrona

MARLU
La Patrona

PACO PANIAGUA
La Patrona

JUAN CARLOS RODRIGUEZ
La Patrona

ALEJANDRO SIRVENT BARTON
Abismo de Pasión

BMI CABLE TELEVISION MUSIC AWARDS

TREE ADAMS
Perception

JIM JOHNSTON
WWE Raw

MICHAEL BOLGER
SpongeBob SquarePants

SAGE GUYTON
SpongeBob SquarePants

EBAN SCHLETTER
SpongeBob SquarePants

JEREMY WAKEFIELD
SpongeBob SquarePants

JACE EVERETT
True Blood

NATHAN BARR
True Blood

CHARLIE CLOUSER
American Horror Story

CESAR DAVILA-IRIZARRY
American Horror Story

DAMON CRISWELL
Fish Hooks

ANDY STURMER
Fish Hooks

BRANDON KINDER
Bering Sea Gold

J.G. QUINTEL
The Regular Show

JOHN ENROTH
The Regular Show

ALBERT FOX
The Regular Show

MARK MOTHERSBAUGH
The Regular Show

CRAIG OWENS
Dance Moms

RONNIE VAN ZANT
Mountain Men

JACOB SHEA
Mountain Men

ROLFE KENT
Dexter

DANIEL LICHT
Dexter

iZLER
Shameless

Find out more at the official BMI site

Hop Lays Golden Egg - Score by Christopher Lennertz

HOP LAYS GOLDEN EGG

HIGHEST GROSSING OPENING WEEKEND OF 2011

SCORE BY AWARD-WINNING COMPOSER CHRISTOPHER LENNERTZ

LOS ANGELES – The adventures of EB and Easter Island are number one at the box office. Universal Pictures' HOP made an estimated $38.1 million to claim the title of highest-grossing opening weekend in 2011 so far. The film is scored by award-winning composer Christopher Lennertz, who also collaborated with HOP director Tim Hill on 2007's box office champion Alvin and the Chipmunks. Starring Russell Brand and James Marsden, this combination of state-of-the-art animation and live action tells the tale of an out-of-work slacker who injures the Easter Bunny and must take him in while he recovers. The score album is available on Varèse Sarabande Records.

Director Tim Hill describes Christopher Lennertz’s score for Hop as “lush, diverse, vivid, magical, playful and yet unified.” He went on to say, “I really love what Chris did with his themes and how he kept percussion alive in the orchestration throughout. He found places to elevate scenes with colors and punctuation where I hadn’t thought it possible. The score has so many great touches, ranging from a classic animation style to blues-based and percussion driven pieces, all of which add up to a thrilling listening experience.”

Hop producer Chris Meledandri (Despicable Me, Ice Age) was also impressed with Lennertz’s score for the movie: "Chris has written beautiful music for our film. As a storyteller, the music has unquestionably added another dimension to the film weaving narrative, evoking emotion, building suspense and supporting humor,” he explains. “When you take the film away, these compositions stand on their own; in fact, they soar."

Lennertz’s film credits span from major family films Alvin and the Chipmunks, Marmaduke, and Cats and Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore, to political thriller The Deal, starring Christian Slater and Selma Blair, to Soul Plane, a collaboration with RZA of Wu-Tang Clan. His successes in television include the CW’s Supernatural. Lennertz’s scored Stephen Spielberg's videogame Medal of Honor: Rising Sun, which led him to score more Medal of Honor games as well as the popular James Bond videogame. Awards and nominations include an Emmy nod, three Film & TV Music Awards, a BMI Film Music Award, and the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences Award. He recently spearheaded The Concert for Haiti, an orchestral concert piece combining original Lennertz music with many other leading film composers to benefit the victims of the Haiti earthquake.

Medal of Honor - 8 Disc Limited Edition Soundtrack Collection Coming

If you have loved the music of the MEDAL OF HONOR video game franchise, then this press release is going to make you very, very happy!  Read on...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
LA-LA LAND RECORDS IN CONJUNCTION WITH
ELECTRONIC ARTS TO RELEASE 8 DISC LIMITED EDITION
MEDAL OF HONOR SOUNDTRACK COLLECTION

Includes original scores from Michael Giacchino, Christopher Lennertz, and Ramin Djawadi

LOS ANGELES, CA – Electronic Arts (EA) continues to make new strides in video game music with the release of the MEDAL OF HONOR SOUNDTRACK COLLECTION. The limited edition eight disc collection includes original scores from the 14 MEDAL OF HONOR titles, previously unreleased material from the award-winning composers Michael Giacchino, Christopher Lennertz and Ramin Djawadi, a 40-page booklet with complete track information, and an introduction by game creator, Director Steven Spielberg. According to Steve Schnur, Worldwide Executive of Music and Marketing at EA, “the box set representing the 12-year-old franchise is an absolute milestone for video game scores. The millions of MEDAL OF HONOR fans around the world deserve nothing less. We are honored to partner with LA-LA Land Records.” The limited edition box set will be released March 1st.

In choosing an appropriate composer to convey the mood of the first MEDAL OF HONOR, legendary director Steven Spielberg was introduced to and impressed with young unknown composer, Michael Giacchino. “I did what anybody in their right mind would do,” said Spielberg. “I signed him up to score MEDAL OF HONOR—and the rest of Giacchino’s history belongs to him.” Giacchino’s video game score pioneered live orchestral recordings of videogame music.

After four highly successful video game scores, the baton was passed to Christopher Lennertz, who also composed the score for the Quantum of Solace game. Lennertz recorded MOH European Assault and Pacific Assault with the Hollywood Studio Symphony, which has recorded for legendary composers such as John Williams.

Last year the game was reinvented and for the first time in its 12-year history, MEDAL OF HONOR left World War II and entered the modern day warfare in Afghanistan. The most recent disc of the collection demanded an intense score that could bring the game into this brand new era, and Ramin Djawadi was brought on for the challenge. Known for his score for Iron Man and the Prison Break television series, Djawadi’s score matches the intensity of the soldier’s story and Tier 1 experience in 2010’s MEDAL OF HONOR.

The increasing demand of the MEDAL OF HONOR scores by soundtrack aficionados led to EA's musical compendium of the MOH music. The rising popularity of videogame music has created an outcry to the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) to create a GRAMMY category honoring "Best Videogame Score." Currently, the Grammys recognizes video game music as part of the category “Best Score Soundtrack for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media.”


Search Amazon.com for "Medal of Honor soundtrack"

Who Should Score Star Wars: Episode VII?

A couple of weekends ago, I got the strangest feeling...one I hadn't felt since...

Anyway, that feeling was to marathon the prequels and so I did. Episodes I - III. ( I fell asleep during Episode III, but don't worry, I know what happens.)

When I got to ATTACK OF THE CLONES, I started really paying attention to the score. Oh the pain! I had forgotten what a butcher-job they had to JOHN WILLIAMS' music. The music editing is nothing short of a crime and I'd still really like to hear what Williams came up with for the final battle on Geonosis. The amount of re-used music in ATTACK OF THE CLONES and REVENGE OF THE SITH is just shame. Even though Williams doesn't write the way he used to, "George, you still have JOHN WILLIAMS for crying out loud. Utilize him!"

Well, after that, I started to think about the future of STAR WARS...for adults, that is. (Clearly THE CLONE WARS is meant for kids and I have been able to stomach only one episode thus far. The idiotic droid army and their ridiculous one-liners just irritates me too much to watch.) Although there is a live-action, television show coming as well, the real future lay in another feature film or films. Why not film THE FORCE UNLEASHED (and it's sequels?). Why not jump back to the future and do an Episode VII? Now there's a thought. If they did, let me ask you to ponder two questions:

First, who you like to see take the directorial reigns? Peter Jackson? Steven Spielberg? J.J. Abrams? Zack Snyder? Jon Favreau? M. Night Shyamalan? Darren Aronofsky? Brad Bird? James Cameron? Who?

Second, who would be the best choice to score such a picture? There is no shortage of composers who could do it. Here are some names that I think should be considered. First, some of the more well-known: MICHAEL GIACCHINO, DON DAVIS, might do a nice job of it. And here are some others that could probably be true to tradition but yet add something fresh: MARK GRISKEY, JAMIE CHRISTOPHERSON, or CHRISTOPHER LENNERTZ.

I asked this question on TWITTER not too long ago and addition to the composers I've already listed, a few other suggested composers were: JOEL MCNEELY, BRIAN TYLER, and WILLIAM ROSS.

So what say you? Who directs? Who composes?

It's ok to dream.

Variety Interviews Game Composers

VARIETY has just posted an interesting article regarding the state of video game music as described by some well-known game composers...and feature film composers. Mentioned in the article are composers such as: HOWARD SHORE, MICHAEL GIACCHINO, HARRY GREGSON-WILLIAMS, CHRISTOPHER LENNERTZ, LAURA KARPMAN and GERARD MARINO.

Some brow-furrowers from the article:

Music budgets have risen from $30,000 (in the early '90s) to $1 million in some cases today, execs say. Composers tend to be paid by the minute, but with games requiring 90 minutes-120 minutes of music each, the $1,000- to $2,000-per-minute rate quickly adds up to creative fees in excess of $100,000.

Debney committed to writing the music for the knights-and-dragons game "Lair," but has turned down subsequent projects because there are no provisions for backend payments for successful games (as composers receive, via ASCAP and BMI, for successful films and TV shows). "The game companies are extremely resistant," he says. "I don't know if it'll change. It's a big problem."

Gerard Marino, whose "God of War" games are among the most popular (and whose music is featured on "Video Games Live"), recently heard a fellow composer complain that "there is no middle class anymore." His response: "Well, I think there is. It's games."

Also mentioned is that CHRISTOPHER LENNERTZ will be scoring the QUANTUM OF SOLACE tie-in game.


There's more so check out the full article here!

Where are The Updates?

For those of you asking, "Where are the updates? Where is the Cue Awards: Big Wrap Up? Where are new reviews? Where? Where?"

Well, let me tell you...

I've recently returned from a working-vacation in the L.A. area (emphasis on the vacation part...it was much needed). The vacation-side was full of eating out, watching flicks in state of the art movie theaters, checking out the USS Midway in San Diego, rock climbing (of the indoor variety) and other niceties. Yes...some fun stuff...but that's not all...

On the "working" side of things, I interviewed composer DAVID BUCKLEY, who was written the score for the upcoming flick THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM as well as Joel Schumacher's TOWN CREEK. David Buckley has been working with HARRY GREGSON-WILLIAMS for a number of years and has additional music credits on a number of well-known HGW projects. He's flying solo now and let me tell you his work for THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM is going to pleasantly surprise many of you! While I was not all that enthused with the film's concept and even initial trailer, having seen a good bit of footage with the score track, I have to say that it's going to be pretty decent film and a very entertaining score. Look for the interview in a week or so. Hopefully we'll be able to stream a few tracks from Buckely's score on the interview page.

I was also able to sit down with composer CHRISTOPHER LENNERTZ for a few minutes. Chatting in his studio, he was certainly happy with the box office success of one of his most recent projects ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS, but not more happy than with his first child - born a few weeks ago. I got a bit of a glimpse and listen to an upcoming project of his and let's just say this is probably going to be yet another hit for him and nice listening experience for us. Stay tuned for more on that project in the days and weeks to come.

Where are the reviews? - I have a number of reviews partially done so be on the lookout for 10,000 B.C, JUMPER, and THE SPIDERWICK CHRONICLES in the very near future.

Ok...so now you know the deal. I'll be getting to the BIG WRAP UP in the next few days as well.

Lots of cool stuff on the horizon, so keep your peepers fully peeped.

Laughing Until it Lennertz! Interview with Composer Christopher Lennertz

Composer CHRISTOHER LENNERTZ takes a few minutes away from working on season 3 of SUPERNATURAL to talk with us about his most recent foray into comedy genre, scoring parody films (THE COMEBACKS, MEET THE SPARTANS), his composing-partnership with Timothy Wynn, how the writer's strike is now effecting composers and finally his thoughts on having his work released on iTunes and AmazonMp3.

Also included several tracks from Christopher Lennertz's scores for MEET THE SPARTANS and ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS!

Check out the interview here!

(Updated) WhereHawk? No Warhawk on iTunes . . .Yet.

UPDATE 10/24/07 - Warhawk is no longer M.I.A!

Thanks to Jan for posting the comment below. WARHAWK is now available on iTunes! (search for "Warhawk")

Enjoy

-----------------------------

Several have inquired about the release of the WARHAWK soundtrack on iTunes and so this post is for you.

A couple of weeks ago there was a bit of buzz regarding Christopher Lennertz and Timothy Wynn's collaborative score for the PS3 game WARHAWK coming to iTunes, but thus far nothing has appeared in the iTunes catalog. I have yet to get any official response indicating what the hold-up is and when the score might finally be available through iTunes or for sale through any other outlet.

The moment I find something out something, I will post it here. In the meantime, there's plenty of other great game music to enjoy. My full review of JOHN DEBNEY's LAIR could be up as early as today. Or you can go VOTE for your favorite video game score thus far here.

Christopher Lennertz's Warhawk Coming to iTunes

In our last interview with composer CHRISTOPHER LENNERTZ, he hinted at some projects he was working on and how excited he was about them. One of those projects, I'm sure, was WARHAWK for the Sony Playstation 3 and this week the soundtrack will see its first official release on...you guessed it...iTunes. (Hopefully, Amazon will expand its soundtrack releases soon.)

Lennertz collaborated with another veteran game composer TIMOTHY WYNN on the adventurous score and from early tracks found around the net (like here at 1up.com) things seem very promising!

My guess is that a good search on Tuesday should return some rewarding results. 2007 is shaping up as an all-timer in terms of high quality video game scores.