Symphony Central Coast returns to the stage in a swash-buckling, rip-roaring, shark-infested concert, celebrating the magnificent music of the movies. ‘Lights, Action, Music!’ features music from some the most loved films of all time, including ‘The Seahawk’, ‘Gladiator’, and ‘Lord of the Rings’ plus a selection of Australian films with music by Australian composers. And as a bonus there will be two films with live music performed by a full symphony orchestra.

Erich Korngold is one of the fathers of modern film music, writing for classics such as ‘The Adventures of Robin Hood’ and ‘The Sea Wolf’. He was the first to use themes for the main characters, varying them based on the emotional level of a scene, and influencing film composers to this day including John Williams, Hans Zimmer and Howard Shore. Who can forget the ‘shark’ theme from Jaws, or ‘The Shire’ theme from ‘Lord of the Rings’? All these and more will be performed live with over 50 musicians on stage.

Also on the program is music from some of Australia’s most prolific and talented film composers. The names may not be familiar but the music almost certainly is. ‘The Butterfly Tree’ from 2017 is a poignant drama about grief and loss but is sumptuously filmed and with music from Caitlyn Yeo, who was written extensively for film and television. Her credits include seven feature films, 25 documentaries and five TV series including ‘The Rocket’, ‘The Killing Field’ and ABC’s Compass. Tim Winton’s acclaimed novel ‘Cloudstreet’ was filmed in 2011 with music by Bryony Marks, one of Australia’s most sought-after screen composers. Her film credits include ‘Berlin Syndrome’, ‘A Month of Sundays’, and ‘Felony’ and her TV credits include ‘Mustangs FC’, ‘Lambs of God’, ‘Barracuda’, ‘Anzac Girls’ and ‘Please Like Me’.

Symphony Central Coast will also perform two ‘live to screen’ movie scores; ‘Zero’, a stop-motion dark fairy-tale with music from Kyls Burtland, and Buster Keaton’s silent classic ‘The Goat’, with music compiled, composed and scored by Steven Stanke.

Conductor and Artistic Director of Symphony Central Coast, Dr Steven Stanke said, “Performing film music is incredibly exciting and satisfying because it is often the most complex music of our age. Film composers are extremely creative when scoring films and a full symphony orchestra is often the only way to perform them completely. And I’m also very pleased to be able to include lots of Australian music, by women composers too, in our program.”

Film music might bristle with espionage, strike up an ancient military march or bring a car chase to a sticky end. ‘Lights, Action, Music!’ is a magical experience, bringing the film scores to life, evoking familiar scenes and stirring our memories. Symphony Central Coast’s first concert for 2021 promises to be an experience like no other, bringing iconic music to The Art House stage.