The Ontario Pops Orchestra will add a finale to their 2024/25 season with a concert that includes movie music and two of the giants of the classical canon. The Music of Hans Zimmer & Blockbuster Classics on May 31 combines some of Zimmer’s best known scores with Schubert and Beethoven.
Soprano Leslie Higgins joins OPO for the concert. Higgins earned a Bachelor’s degree from Western University, and a Master’s of Music from the University of Toronto. Today, she is a faculty member of the Royal Conservatory of Music.
On the program:
- The Gladiator by Hans Zimmer
- Ave Maria by Franz Schubert.
- At the Movies with Hans Zimmer (Selections from: Man of Steel, Inception, and The Dark Knight Rises)
- Over the Rainbow by Harold Arlen with lyrics by Yip Harburg
- Hans Zimmer: Movie Milestones (Selections from: Driving Miss Daisy, Gladiator, Madagascar, Crimson Tide and The Lion King)
- Pirates of the Caribbean by Hans Zimmer
- Symphony No. 8 by Ludwig van Beethoven
Hans Zimmer & The Movies
Zimmer grew up in a music-loving family, but rejected formal lessons. He became a fan of film composer Ennio Morricone, and he’s often said in interview that’s what spurred him to become a movie music composer himself. However, his musical career began with keyboards, synthesizers, and bands like The Buggles, and Krisma, an Italian new wave band.
But, even as he was performing and at times producing rock and pop singles through the 1980s, he began writing music for advertising jingles by the mid 1980s, and partnered with Stanley Myers, a prolific composer, to found the Lillie Yard recording studio. The two composers shared a vision of music that blended orchestral sounds with electronic instruments. It’s still his carrying card today.
His music is often touted as the quintessential modern soundtrack for fantasy, action, and thriller movies, but his catalogue includes a wide range of movies from Driving Miss Daisy to Kung Fu Panda.
Zimmer’s musical style is characterized by a kind of late Romantic Austro-German style at its heart, often using dark minor keys, dramatic ostinatos and dynamic ranges. The Pirates of the Caribbean score is among his best known, including a fugue-like treatment of the main theme, and stellar string writing.
He almost didn’t take on The Lion King project when it was offered to him.
“At first, I didn’t want to do Lion King, because I don’t really like Broadway musicals,” he says in an interview. “I thought that’s what Disney wanted from me, but they kept saying, ‘No, no, no, we really like that you don’t like Broadway musicals. We want this to be different.’”
He changed his mind, according to interviews, because his daughter was six years old at the time, and due to the nature of the movies he’d written for previously, she’d never been able to attend any of the premieres.
And, of course, a few years later, The Lion King became one of Broadway’s biggest hits.
Zimmer is responsible for the music for more than 200 projects, which so far, have won two Academy Awards, a BAFTA Award, five GRAMMY Awards, along with three Emmy and one Tony Award nominations.
Somewhat ironically, he’s become so famous as a film composer that he now often takes to the stage as a performer again.
A Crowd Pleasing Program
With its combination of classical luminaries, classic songs and movie music, it’s a program with dramatic flair.
- Find tickets and more details about the May 31 performance [HERE].
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