Join the Golden State Pops Orchestra as we pay tribute to John Williams, one of the most popular and successful American orchestral composers of the modern age. Williams' scores for such films as Jaws, E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, Schindler's List, and the Indiana Jones series have won him multiple awards, including five Academy Awards, 17 Grammys, three Golden Globes, two Emmys and five BAFTA Awards, and several gold and platinum records. His scores for the original Star Wars trilogy transformed the landscape of Hollywood film music and became icons of American culture. Williams has composed the music and served as music director for nearly eighty films, including Tintin, Saving Private Ryan, Amistad, Seven Years in Tibet, Sleepers, Nixon, Sabrina, Home Alone, JFK, Hook, Born on the Fourth of July, Empire of the Sun, Jurassic Park, Superman and Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

Selections to be performed include music from Star Wars, Far and Away, Jurassic Park, The Lost World, E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, and one of Williams' newest works, Dartmoor, 1912 from the 2012 Academy Award nominated film The War Horse.

Special guest, cellist Cecilia Tsan, will join the GSPO to perform Sayuri's Theme from Memoirs of a Geisha. Born in Versailles (France) of Chinese musician parents, Ms. Tsan began playing the cello at the age of five with the same teacher as her childhood friend Yo-Yo Ma, who was an inspiration for her and performed Sayuri's Theme on the original movie soundtrack.

GSPO is also pleased to feature our principal harpist, Alison Bjorkedal, who will perform two of Williams' solo works: the haunting Lanes of Limerick from Angela's Ashes, which was performed on the original movie soundtrack by her teacher, JoAnn Turovsky, and Two Themes from Harry Potter for Harp Solo.