‘Harry Potter’ Concert Series To Launch This Summer
For fans ofHarry Potter, this year was already going to be a big one. A hopeful new franchise set in the wizarding world will begin withFantastic Beasts and Where to Find Themand there’s a play calledHarry Potter and the Cursed Childon the way as well. Plus, let’s not forget that Universal Studios Hollywood isgetting their own Harry Potter attraction.
Now fans have something else to look forward to this year asCineConcertshas announced a new partnership with Warner Bros. to bring a series of Harry Potter concert events to various parts of the country with the first one beginning this summer. Find out more below.
The Harry Potter concert series is said to “reformat each Harry Potter film into an orchestral concert experience that offers audiences a live symphony orchestra performance of the entire score in-sync with the film, which will be simultaneously projected onto a high-definition 40-foot screen.” CineConcerts president Justin Freer explained toVariety:
All the music is pulled out of the film, so that’s one of the interesting challenges — mixing the live music against the dialogue and the effects.
This doesn’t sound any different from previous live film concerts that have been done, where a live orchestra plays the score over the film, but the use of the word “reformat” makes me wonder if they’ll only be using parts of the movie instead of playing the whole thing with an orchestra providing the score. But since CineConcerts has previously done full-length film concerts forGladiator,The Godfatherand more, I don’t think the movies will be cut for time at all. The use of the word “reformat” is probably in reference to all the sound work that has to be done to remove the score from the film.
Kicking off the Harry Potter concert series will beHarry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, which will premiere at Philadelphia’s Mann Center for the Performing Arts onJune 23. After that, stops include The San Diego Symphony, Nashville Symphony, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Grand Rapids Pops and Symphony Silicon Valley, but a full tour schedule hasn’t been announced just yet.
Presumably there will be one new Harry Potter film concert each year, but that’s just speculation on our part. But surely the assumed popularity of such an event will see CineConcerts running through all eight of the films eventually, and each one is going to be something special to experience for fans of the franchise.
Having just experienced by first film concert last year withBack to the Future, I can tell you that even though the ticket prices for these events can be a little salty, it’s undoubtedly worth the money. As soon as you hear about tickets going on sale for the Harry Potter concert series, I recommend buying them immediately. They’re probably going to sell out fast.
Tickets for the Philadelphia premiere of The Harry Potter Film Concert Series in Philadelphia will be available through Ticketmaster, MannCenter.org and Mann Center’s box office starting Feb. 20. Keep your ears to the ground to find out when tickets go on sale for other venues.
