Posted March 8, 2021
DAYTON, OH (March 8, 2021) – On Saturday, March 20, 2021 at 6:00 pm and 8:30 pm in the Mead Theatre of the Schuster Center, Artistic Director and Conductor Neal Gittleman and the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra (DPO) will present the next concert of the Dayton Performing Arts Alliance (DPAA) 2020–2021 Reimagined Season entitled The Best of John Williams.
Often called “America’s composer,” John Williams has been creating movie music since 1959. He has won 24 Grammy Awards and has been nominated 51 times for an Academy Award, winning the coveted statue five times over the years. His staggering number of Academy nods makes him the second-most nominated individual for the Oscar, next to none other than Mr. Walt Disney himself. In fact, Williams has composed the soundtrack for eight of the twenty highest grossing films at the U.S. box office. To say that John Williams has had a great influence on the very fabric of American culture over the last 60 years is an understatement! This March, the Williams musical magic continues as Neal Gittleman and the Dayton Philharmonic prepare a Pops performance that pays tribute to even more music from this Hollywood legend.
The Dayton Philharmonic is thrilled to take the stage together once again to perform some of John Williams’ most memorable movie scores. The DPO fills the Schuster Center with the magical music of cinematic blockbusters, including Harry Potter, Jurassic Park, and, of course music from the Star Wars empire. The performance will be 50 minutes in length with no intermission.
This concert will include the moving “Hymn to the Fallen” from John Williams’ score for Saving Private Ryan. The DPO will perform this work with narration, the text of which was assembled several years ago by Colonel Alan Sierichs, when he led the United States Air Force Band of Flight at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. The text comprises excerpts from a speech delivered by Colin Powell about The Greatest Generation and the American G.I. The narrator for this piece will be retired Air Force Colonel Colleen Ryan, who served as the first female Commander of the 88th Air Base Wing and Installation at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base before retiring in 2008 after 26 years of service. After retirement, Colonel Ryan has served in several positions as a civilian leader in the Dayton community. The Dayton Philharmonic is honored to have Colonel Ryan joining us for this powerful moment.
To accommodate a variety of viewing needs of its patrons, the DPAA offers three options to enjoy this concert:
- In-Theater Performances: The DPO will offer two live in-theatre performances of this concert, with no intermission, for those who cannot wait to be back in the Schuster Center to see and hear the DPO in person. These performances will be held at 6:00pm and 8:30pm on Saturday, March 20, 2021, at the Benjamin and Marian Schuster Performing Arts Center in downtown Dayton. The performance will be 50 minutes in length with no intermission. In compliance with Public Health–Dayton and Montgomery County, limited seating will be available in the Schuster Center, patrons will be seated in a socially-distance configuration, and strict safety guidelines will be followed in order to ensure the safety of all patrons in attendance. In-theater tickets are $50 per performance.
- Live Stream Performance – For those patrons who are not yet ready to attend an in-theater performance, this concert can be viewed in a live-stream format from the comfort of home in real time as the DPO performs the concert from the stage. The Live Stream Performance will be streamed at 8:30pm on Saturday, March 20, 2021, and the live stream ticket also provides access to on-demand viewing of the performance until June 30, 2021. Live stream access is $25.
- Virtual Stream Membership – Patrons can become a DPAA Virtual Streams member which, depending on the membership level, provides access to all DPAA Reimagined Season live and recorded performances, as well as past 2020 Autumn and Holiday Streams, Artist Q&As, Behind-The-Scenes Videos and Bonus Performances. The Premium membership level ($500) provides access to all DPAA Live Streams. The Basic ($100) and Plus ($250) membership levels provide access to all performances five days after the Live Stream premieres. All performances are available for on-demand viewing until June 30, 2021.
“Our intention is to provide patrons with a wide variety of choices so they can access music and dance from Dayton Opera, Dayton Philharmonic, and Dayton Ballet in a way that works best for them,” said DPAA Interim President and CEO Pat McDonald. “We are thrilled to be back on stage in the theater doing what we love to do, and we look forward to sharing the talent and dedication of our musicians, dancers, and singers with our community, who have continued to support us in the face of many challenges over the last year!”
Tickets for In-Theater and Live Stream performances of The Best of John Williams are available at Ticket Center Stage (937) 228-3630 or online at www.daytonperformingarts.org. DPAA Virtual Streams Memberships can be obtained by visiting https://daytonperformingarts.org/streams/. Information and ticketing for this program, or any of the DPAA 2020–2021 Reimagined Season programs, can be found by visiting www.daytonperformingarts.org.
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About the Dayton Performing Arts Alliance
The Dayton Performing Arts Alliance was formed in July 2012 as the result of a groundbreaking and innovative merger between the Dayton Ballet, the Dayton Opera, and the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra. Together, they are the largest performing arts organization in the community, offering a tremendous variety of performance and education programs and setting a new standard for artistic excellence. Dayton Performing Arts Alliance performances are made possible in part by Montgomery County and Culture Works, the single largest source of community funds for the arts and culture in the Miami Valley. The Dayton Performing Arts Alliance also receives partial funding from the Ohio Arts Council, a state agency created to foster and encourage the development of the arts and to preserve Ohio’s cultural heritage. Funding from the Ohio Arts Council is an investment of state tax dollars that promotes economic growth, educational excellence, and cultural enrichment for all Ohio residents. In 2013, The Dayton Performing Arts Alliance was thrilled to be one of five performing arts organizations in the country selected to receive a three-year “Music Alive” grant from New Music USA and the League of American Orchestras. The Dayton Performing Arts Alliance is the proud recipient of a 2017-2018 Art Works grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.