July 14, 2004 -

Ottawa, Canada -- The National Arts Centre Orchestra will present The Lord of the Rings: A Symphony in Six Movements for Orchestra and Chorus on Thursday, July 22 and Friday, July 23 at 19:30 in the NAC’s Southam Hall. This live concert features the spectacular music from the three Oscar-winning films based on the epic trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien. Canadian composer Howard Shore, who has now won three Oscars, a Grammy and a Golden Globe for his monumental musical score for the trilogy, will be in Ottawa for the concerts and will give a composition lecture on Friday, July 23 at 12:30 in the NAC Studio.

Alexander Mickelthwaite, the Assistant Conductor of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, will lead the NAC Orchestra, as well as the “Festival Chorus” prepared by Laurence Ewashko, and consisting of choristers from Cantata Singers of Ottawa, Opera Lyra Ottawa, Ottawa Centennial Choir, Ottawa Choral Society, Ottawa Regional Youth Choir, and University of Ottawa Choirs, as well as youngers from St. Matthew’s Anglican Church Boys’ Choir, Christ Church Cathedral Boys’ Choir, and Ottawa Childrens’ Choir.

New Zealand singing sensation Hayley Westenra, a 17-year-old who is well on her way to superstardom, will perform the songs originally sung by Annie Lennox and Isabel Bayrakdarian in the films. The silvery-voiced teenager’s debut CD Pure has gone double platinum in Britain, making her the fastest-selling classical artist in UK history.

Original storyboard illustrations by Alan Lee and John Howe will be projected onto the NAC’s giant screen as the music unfolds, to help aficionados of the books and the movies match the music to the story. Composer Howard Shore worked for four years on the opera-like musical adaptation, which not only captures the sweeping emotion, thrilling vistas and grand journeys of the film, but also echoes the very construction of Tolkien’s Middle Earth.

“It’s really a two-hour piece, based on the 12 hours I wrote for the three films,” Shore says. “Each film was a four-hour composition. And the piece takes you through the story of the Lord of the Rings in a narrative way, using the choirs, using the singing.”

Toronto-born Howard Shore has emerged as Hollywood’s most eclectic composer. His body of work includes the scores to over 40 films including The Silence of the Lambs and Philadelphia (Jonathan Demme, director), and Ed Wood (Tim Burton, director). He frequently collaborates with filmmaker David Cronenberg including such films as Scanners, Videodrome, The Fly, Dead Ringers, Naked Lunch, Crash and eXistenZ. Howard Shore was formally educated at the Berkeley School of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, graduating in 1968. He was a member of the groundbreaking Canadian rock band Lighthouse from 1969 to 1972, and was one of the original creators of Saturday Night Live, where he served as Musical Director, composed the theme, wrote music and conducted the band from 1975 to 1980.

In 1998, during the NAC’s Generation X,Y,Z New Music Festival, Shore conducted the NAC Orchestra in a unique adaptation of his own score from Cronenberg’s film Crash with David Cronenberg as special guest.

The Lord of the Rings: A Symphony in Six Movements for Orchestra and Chorus with the NAC Orchestra takes place Thursday, July 22 and Friday, July 23 at 19:30 in Southam Hall. Tickets are $37.00, 47.00, 57.00, 70.00 (GST and Facility Fee included) and are on sale at the NAC Box Office (Monday to Saturday from 10:00 to 21:00) and through Ticketmaster at (613) 755-1111, or through the NAC’s website at www.nac-cna.ca.

Tickets for the talk by composer Howard Shore on Friday, July 23 at 12:30 in the NAC Studio are $5.00, and can be purchased in the same location as above.

Groups of 20 or more save up to 20% off of regular priced tickets to NAC Music, Theatre and Dance performances. For information and reservations call 613-947-7000 ext: 384 or e-mail grp@nac-cna.ca

For more information please contact:
Jane Morris, Communications Officer,
National Arts Centre Orchestra
(613) 947-7000, ext. 335
jmorris@nac-cna.ca