Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, the first in the eight-part series adapted from J.K. Rowling’s famous books, will screen at the Hollywood Bowl this summer with a live orchestra.
The Los Angeles Philharmonic will perform the soundtrack, written by multi-award-winning film composer John Williams. Williams received an Academy Award for the soundtrack when the film was first released in 2001.
The orchestra will be conducted by Justin Freer, who recently unveiled plans to launch a Harry Potter film screening concert tour around the United States. The tour is set to begin in Philadelphia on 23 June, and includes orchestras in San Diego, Milwaukee, Nashville, Grand Rapids and Silicon Valley. “The ‘Harry Potter’ film series is one of those once-in-a-lifetime cultural phenomena that continues to delight millions of fans around the world. We now have an opportunity to add to the following,” Freer said.
Each Harry Potter film is being reformatted to allow for the music to be performed live. All of the dialogue and sound effects from the original will be retained.
Other highlights of the Hollywood Bowl will include the LA Philharmonic accompanying 2009’s revamped Star Trek, as well as an appearance by Williams himself to conduct some of his most popular movie soundtracks.
Here you can refresh your memory of Williams’ creation for the first film.