Star Wars composer to mark 50th with Albert Hall gala
AN OSCAR-WINNING film composer whose credits include Star Wars and Star Trek is to reveal never-before-heard work in a oneoff concert at the Royal Albert Hall.
Michael Giacchino, 49, won an Academy Award, a Golden Globe and a Grammy for his score on Disney hit Up. He will be joined on stage by Hollywood names including Jurassic World director Colin Trevorrow and Star Wars directors Gareth Edwards and
J J Abrams.
The musician, who worked with Abrams on Star Trek and TV series Lost, planned for the career retrospective to coincide with his 50th birthday and “was totally surprised” when all the directors said they would fly in.
He told the Standard: “We’ll do Lost, Star Wars, Star Trek, and we’ve created new arrangements that we will be premiering there on stage.
“The best part is, all my friends who I made these movies with are coming… They will all be participating on stage too, so for viewers I think that will be unique because you don’t normally see all the directors.”
Giacchino, who also composed music for The Incredibles and Inside Out, said he is usually given about six weeks to create the score — but with Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, directed by Edwards, he had four and a half weeks.
Of Abrams, he said: “When I’m working with him it feels like we’ve known each other for ever… We were working on the set of Mission: Impossible and he turned to me and said, ‘Can you believe we are getting to do this?’ We still feel that way in some senses.”
Michael Giacchino at 50: A Birthday Gala Celebration will be held at the Royal Albert Hall on Friday October 20 at 7.30pm. Tickets from £28. Some proceeds will go directly to the Royal Albert Hall’s Education & Outreach projects. gained cult status through its role as the setting for the Channel 4 show since its first series in 2013. The programme films singles getting to know each other over dinner.
Des Gunewardena, chairman and chief executive of D&D London, said: “The performance at Paternoster Chop House has certainly been fuelled by First Dates, especially at the weekend when it used to be fairly quiet but is absolutely packed.”
Across the group, which also includes Quaglino’s and Le Pont de la Tour, turnover was up 16 per cent to a record
£125 million last year. But Mr Gunewardena said trading was “volatile” with a strong June and July followed by a “disappointing” August and September.