THE FLORIDA ORCHESTRA | 2018-2019 45
JOHN WILLIAMS
Composer
HOME ALONE
In a career spanning
more than five
decades, John
Williams has become
one of America’s
most accomplished
and successful
composers for
film and for the
concert stage, and
he remains one of
our nation’s most
distinguished and
contributive musical voices. He has composed the
music for more than one hundred films, including
all eight Star Wars films, the first three Harry Potter
films, Superman, Memoirs of a Geisha, Home Alone
and The Book Thief. His 45-year artistic partnership
with director Steven Spielberg has resulted in many
of Hollywood’s most acclaimed and successful
films, including Schindler’s List, E.T. the Extra-
Terrestrial, Jaws, Jurassic Park, Close Encounters
of the Third Kind, the Indiana Jones films, Saving
Private Ryan, Lincoln, The BFG and The Post. Mr.
Williams has composed themes for four Olympic
Games. He served as music director of the Boston
Pops Orchestra for fourteen seasons and remains
their Laureate Conductor. He has composed
numerous works for the concert stage including
two symphonies, and concertos commissioned by
many of America’s most prominent orchestras. Mr.
Williams has received five Academy Awards and 51
Oscar nominations (making him the second-most
nominated person in the history of the Oscars),
seven British Academy Awards, twenty-four
Grammys, four Golden Globes, and five Emmys.
In 2003, he received the Olympic Order (the IOC’s
highest honor) for his contributions to the Olympic
movement. In 2004, he received the Kennedy
Center Honors, and in 2009 he received the National
Medal of Arts, the highest award given to artists by
the U.S. Government. In 2016 he received the 44th
Life Achievement Award from the American Film
Institute – the first time a composer was honored
with this award.
Ever since Home Alone appeared, it has held a unique place in the affections of a very broad public. Director
Chris Columbus brought a uniquely fresh and innocent approach to this delightful story, and the film has
deservedly become a perennial at Holiday time.
I took great pleasure in composing the score for the film, and I am especially delighted that the magnificent
Florida Orchestra has agreed to perform the music in a live presentation of the movie.
I know I speak for everyone connected with the making of the film in saying that we are greatly honored by
this event… and I hope that tonight’s audience will experience the renewal of joy that the film brings with
it, each and every year.
John Williams