{"id":3493,"date":"2025-10-02T02:59:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-02T02:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lenaweevoice.com\/?p=3493"},"modified":"2026-09-03T23:50:26","modified_gmt":"2026-09-04T04:50:26","slug":"adrian-symphony-opens-its-season-with-movie-music-concert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lenaweevoice.com\/staging\/7542\/2025\/10\/02\/adrian-symphony-opens-its-season-with-movie-music-concert\/","title":{"rendered":"Adrian Symphony opens its season with movie music concert"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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ADRIAN \u2014\u00a0 Music from films as diverse as \u201cCharade,\u201d \u201cKing Kong,\u201d and the \u201cLord of the Rings\u201d and James Bond franchises are on the program for the Adrian Symphony Orchestra<\/a>\u2019s season-opening concert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The performance, which the ASO has titled \u201cEpic Soundtracks Live,\u201d is at 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 5, at Adrian College\u2019s Dawson Auditorium. Tickets are $41\/$35\/$27 for adults, $39\/$33\/$27 for senior citizens, and $22\/$19\/$15 for students, and are available by calling 517-264-3121; online at adriansymphony.org; at the ASO offices in Mahan Hall, Adrian College, during business hours; or at the door beginning one hour before concert time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Audience members are invited to participate in a costume contest during the concert by dressing up as their favorite movie characters. The audience will determine the winner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In past years, the movie-music pops concert has been a very popular part of the ASO\u2019s season in the February slot. This year, however, the orchestra decided to kick things off with this concert and do a different pops concert, one with a Valentine\u2019s theme, in February.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe think starting the season with this concert, which has been so successful, will be a nice way to start the year,\u201d ASO Music Director Bruce Anthony Kiesling said.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Riley Hahn, soloist<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Guest artist for the performance is Riley Hahn, a BFA student in the University of Michigan\u2019s musical theater program, who will perform four of the James Bond films\u2019 best-known songs: \u201cFor Your Eyes Only,\u201d \u201cSkyfall,\u201d \u201cYou Only Live Twice,\u201d and \u201cNobody Does it Better.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kiesling first met Hahn through a video audition she did last year. \u201cI knew right away she\u2019d be perfect for this,\u201d he said. \u201cShe has the right voice for this type of music.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to the films listed above, movies such as \u201cHow to Train Your Dragon,\u201d \u201cThe Magnificent Seven,\u201d \u201cGladiator,\u201d \u201cPirates of the Caribbean,\u201d and \u201cBack to the Future\u201d are all represented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all the stuff I love that isn\u2019t John Williams,\u201d Kiesling joked, a reference to the many times that iconic film composer\u2019s music has been part of ASO pops concerts over the years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While it was certainly difficult to narrow down the choices, the fact is that not every film score is especially adaptable to a concert format. \u201cNot all films excerpt well,\u201d he said, by having themes that can be lifted out of the larger soundtrack and played separately from the rest of the music. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And while there may not be any John Williams \u2014 who, incidentally, is a master when it comes to writing film scores that can be excerpted for the concert hall \u2014 on the program, having music from \u201cCharade\u201d will allow the audience to hear a composer who, in his day, was similar to Williams when it came to popularity: Henry Mancini.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aside from Marvin Hamlisch, \u201cMancini was really the only other [film] composer to be a household name\u201d in the 1970s, Kiesling said. \u201cHe had lots of hits on the pop charts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mancini\u2019s many hits from his film music include everything from \u201cBaby Elephant Walk\u201d from \u201cHatari!\u201d to \u201cMoon River\u201d from \u201cBreakfast at Tiffany\u2019s\u201d to the \u201cPink Panther\u201d theme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Out of all that composer\u2019s well-known film scores, Kiesling chose \u201cCharade\u201d for its opening sequence, which he described as having \u201calmost a \u2018Mission: Impossible\u2019 vibe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With such a wide range of film genres and eras represented in the concert, everyone from kids to grandparents will probably hear music they know. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe did kind of want it to be a little bit of everything \u2014 some new stuff, some classics,\u201d Kiesling said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Epic Soundtracks Live\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n