‘Star Wars’ concert gives Sarasota Orchestra a hope to reach new audiences

The blare of trumpets and the urgency of strings herald the opening of one of the most popular films of all time and the soundtrack that makes the story come alive in “Star Wars: A New Hope.”

Sarasota audiences have a chance to experience the film and the famous John Williams score in a new way when the Sarasota Orchestra plays the music live as the film is playing, which conductor Susie Seiter said provides a new appreciation of film scores in general and Williams’ music specifically.

“The general public does not even realize there is music to a film because it’s so immersive. They realize there’s music, but sometimes it's a distraction and it’s not doing its job,” she said.

Seiter, a composer and orchestrator, has been leading live orchestra accompaniments to film screenings for about 10 years, though this is her first chance at a “Star Wars” film.

“We’re living in a really lucky time when we are fortunate to be paying John Williams music when he is still alive,” she said in a telephone interview. “He’s 91 years old, still working and just released ‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny’ this year. He is still writing amazing music. It’s nice to be playing music by a master in his own right and well respected everywhere.”

She feels a special connection to Williams because he handed her a diploma when she graduated from the University of Southern California’s Scoring for Motion Pictures and Television Program.

“That was a surprise gift to have him there,” she said. “I remember walking up to him and wanting to say something about how much his music meant to me as a kid and how much he sparked my interest in orchestral music, but I just couldn't seem to say anything to him.”

Film screenings with live music are a way for orchestras to broaden their audience and introduce film lovers to a live concert experience, even if they get caught up in the story set “a long time ago in a galaxy far far away” involving Princess Leia, Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and Obi-Wan Kenobi battling the evil Empire.

“The audiences are usually not the typical audience that would see a subscription concert like Beethoven or Mahler,” Seiter said. “They don’t really know how to act in a concert hall and I love that. I don’t like a quiet audience that’s really well behaved. I like people that react and cheer and laugh and cry with what’s going on. That’s why I only do these shows. I love the audience engagements and families that can share the music.”

Sarasota Orchestra clarinetist Calvin Falwell, who said he has performed in more film and live orchestra programs than any of his fellow musicians, says they present all sorts of challenges but are “a lot of fun to play.”

There are issues of timing, for example. Conductors have to carefully follow the film and keep the musicians ready to pick up so the music always matches what would have been on the film soundtrack.

Falwell said click tracks help the conductors keep the live music on cue. “The conductor is still leading the ensemble but they do become pretty much like a living metronome. Everything you are doing in a performance like this is in service of an overall artistic product and making sure it all syncs up perfectly with the movie.”

It provides concertgoers with a couple of different things, he said. “It’s a similar experience inside a movie theater with a really great sound system but in another dimension, because it has live sound performed in front of you.”

Though Williams is best known for scoring an amazing array of hit films –  “Jaws,” “Superman,” “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” “ET,” “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” three “Harry Potter” films and the first two “Jurassic Park” movies – Seiter describes him as a “contemporary classical composer.”

“There’s a lot of Wagner and Beethoven and Mahler in John Williams music,” she said

He’s one of the film composers whose scores have become popular on their own and are frequently programmed in orchestral and pops concerts as a suite. Williams himself led arrangements of his film scores during his 13-year tenure leading the Boston Pops. That’s why a program like this has the potential to make film lovers into concertgoers.

“If you ask someone on the street, do you listen to classical music or orchestral music, chances are they’ll say not really,” Falwell said. “But if you ask do you like the music to ‘Star Wars’ or Harry Potter,’ they don’t realize that’s classical style music.”

And the fun for him is “playing something that’s familiar to someone who is not your average Sarasota Orchestra subscriber and meeting them halfway, and they're experiencing something they know in a whole new way,¨ he said. “It's a gateway drug to symphonic music. If you like the music you heard during 'Star Wars,' maybe you'll come hear something heroic like Mahler 1 or Tchaikovsky 5.”

‘Star Wars: A New Hope’ concert

Sarasota Orchestra, led by guest conductor Susie Seiter, plays the John Williams score to a screening of the film. 7:30 p.m. Oct. 27-28, Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, 777 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. $49-$110. 941-953-3434; sarasotaorchestra.org

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This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Sarasota Orchestra brings ‘Star Wars’ music to a new audience