For Immediate Release:
November 18, 2016
Press Contacts:
Eileen Chambers, 312-294-3092
Photos Available By Request
[email protected]
CSO AT THE MOVIES 2016/17 SERIES OPENS NOVEMBER 25
WITH E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL IN CONCERT
Presentation of Steven Spielberg’s Heartwarming Classic Features
Performance of John Williams’ Academy Award®-winning Score by the
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Three Thanksgiving Weekend Performances—
November 25, 26 & 27
CHICAGO—The CSO at the Movies 2016/17 series opens Thanksgiving weekend with E.T. the
Extra-Terrestrial in Concert on Friday, November 25, at 8:00 p.m. Two additional special
performances take place Saturday, November 26, at 8:00 p.m. and Sunday, November 27, at
3:00 p.m. Conductor Richard Kaufman leads the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in a
performance of John Williams’ Academy Award®-winning film score as the Steven Spielberg film
is shown on the big screen at Symphony Center.
In his “Great Movie” essay from 2002, legendary film critic Roger Ebert noted "This movie
makes my heart glad. It is filled with innocence, hope and good cheer. E.T., the Extra-Terrestrial
is a movie like The Wizard of Oz that you can grow up with and grow old with, and it won't let
you down….E.T. is a movie of surprises.”
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial premiered in 1982 to massive critical acclaim, and won four Academy
Awards including Best Original Score. The film’s Oscar-nominated screenplay by Melissa
Matheson was inspired by an imaginary friend from Spielberg’s childhood, and tells the story of
a friendly alien lost on Earth who teams up with a 10-year-old boy to find a way home. The film’s
memorable cast includes Henry Thomas, Drew Barrymore, and Peter Coyote.
E.T.’s whimsical and mysterious tone is illuminated by John Williams’ score. Williams, who
recognized the challenge of creating music that would generate sympathy for such an oddlooking creature, evokes the childlike nature of the alien and his young friends through his
masterful use instrumental color from all parts of the Orchestra.
John Williams (b. 1932) is one of the world’s foremost film composers for the screen. Having
composed original music for nearly 80 films, Williams is the recipient of five Academy Awards®
and 17 Grammy® Awards. As director Steven Spielberg’s most frequent and prolific musical
collaborator, Williams has scored many classic films including Jaws, Jurassic Park, the Indiana
Jones trilogy, Schindler’s List, and the Star Wars trilogy. Also a renowned orchestral composer,
his works include a symphony, a sinfonietta for wind ensemble, and many concertos, including a
cello concerto premiered by Yo-Yo Ma and the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial in Concert is one of three film programs in the 2016/17 CSO at the
Movies series. A program on Tuesday, April 18, 2017 at 7:00 p.m. features Milos Forman’s
Academy Award®-winning classic Amadeus, featuring Mozart’s most celebrated works
performed live by the Members of Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. This program is
repeated on Wednesday, April 19, 2017, at 7:00 p.m. The CSO at the Movies series concludes
with Alfred Hitchcock’s Academy Award®-winning spy thriller North by Northwest featuring an
original score by Bernard Herrmann performed by the CSO on Friday, May 26, 2017, at 8:00
p.m. More information about the CSO at the Movies series is available at cso.org/movies.
Tickets for all CSOA-presented concerts can be purchased by phone at 800-223-7114 or 312294-3000; online at cso.org, or at the Symphony Center box office: 220 S. Michigan Ave.,
Chicago, IL 60604. Discounted student tickets for select concerts can be purchased, subject
to availability, online in advance or at the box office on the day of the concert. For group rates,
please call 312-294-3040.
Artists, programs and prices are subject to change.
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Chicago Symphony Orchestra
CSO at the Movies
Friday, November 25, 2016, 8 p.m.
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Richard Kaufman, conductor
WILLIAMS
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
Tickets: $75-$199
____________________________________________________________________________________
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
CSO Special Concerts
Saturday, November 26, 2016, 8 p.m.
Sunday, November 27, 2016, 3 p.m.
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Richard Kaufman, conductor
WILLIAMS
E.T. the Extra Terrestrial
Tickets: $45-$150
Richard Kaufman
Richard Kaufman has devoted much of his musical life to conducting and supervising music for film and
television productions, as well as performing film and classical music in concert halls and on recordings.
The 2015-16 concert season marks Kaufman’s 25th season as Principal Pops Conductor of Pacific
Symphony. He also holds the permanent title of Pops Conductor Laureate with the Dallas Symphony, and
is in his tenth season with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra concert series, “CSO at the Movies.” This
past May, Kaufman made his conducting debut with the Boston Pops, stepping in on short notice for John
Williams.
Kaufman regularly appears as a guest conductor with symphony orchestras throughout both the United
States and around the world including Cleveland, Atlanta, St. Louis, London, Calgary, Edmonton,
Liverpool, the RTE Concert Orchestra in Dublin, Rotterdam, and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. In
addition to conducting “traditional” concert presentations, Kaufman often leads performances of complete
film scores in concert, synchronizing the music to the actual film as it is shown on the screen above the
orchestra. These legendary film titles include Singin’ in the Rain, The Wizard of Oz, Psycho, Casablanca,
The Bride of Frankenstein, and Pirates of the Caribbean, Home Alone, On the Waterfront, and Star
Trek. He has also conducted numerous silent films in concert. Kaufman has conducted for performers
including John Denver, Andy Williams, Mary Martin, Nanette Fabray, Sir James Galway, Diana Krall,
Chris Botti, The Pointer Sisters, The Beach Boys, Peter Paul and Mary, Robert Goulet, David Copperfield,
The Righteous Brothers, and Art Garfunkel.
Kaufman received the 1993 GRAMMY Award in the category of Best Pop Instrumental Performance. In
addition to his two recordings with the London Symphony Orchestra, he has recorded CDs with the
Nuremberg Symphony, the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, and the Brandenburg Philharmonic in
Berlin.
As a violinist, Kaufman performed on numerous film and television scores including Jaws, Close
Encounters of the Third Kind, Saturday Night Fever and (in a moment of desperation) Animal House. He
has recorded with artists including John Denver, Burt Bacharach, Neil Sedaka, The Carpenters, and Ray
Charles.
Kaufman joined the music department of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios in 1984 as music coordinator,
and for the next 18 years supervised music for MGM. He received two Emmy Award nominations, one for
the animated series, The Pink Panther, in the category of Outstanding Music Direction and Composition,
and another for Outstanding Original Song co-authored for the series, All Dogs Go to Heaven. For the
MGM television series In the Heat of the Night, Kaufman composed songs with actor/producer Carroll
O’Connor. He conducted the scores for films including Guarding Tess and Jungle to Jungle. As a unique
part of his career in film, Kaufman has coached various actors in musical roles including Jack Nicholson,
Dudley Moore, and Tom Hanks.
Kaufman has served as music director and conductor for numerous musicals, including a national tour
of Sweet Charity starring Juliet Prowse, the first national tours of Company (for Hal Prince), and Two
Gentlemen of Verona(for the New York Shakespeare Festival). He has conducted numerous musicals for
the Los Angeles and San Francisco Civic Light Operas (for one of these, he was nominated by the San
Francisco Theater Critics for Outstanding Music Direction).
In 2012, Kaufman received the “Distinguished Alumni Award” from California State University, Northridge
(CSUN). While a student at CSUN, he composed the University’s Alma Mater and Fight Song, and was
the keynote speaker for the CSUN Honors Convocation Ceremony. He has appeared as a guest speaker
at various universities including USC, Georgia and the California State Universities at Northridge and
Fullerton. He is a member of the Music Advisory Board of the Young Musicians Foundation.
Born in Los Angeles, Kaufman began violin studies at age 7, played in the Peter Meremblum California
Junior Symphony, and was a member of the Young Musicians Foundation Debut Orchestra. He attended
the Berkshire Music Festival at Tanglewood in the fellowship program, and earned a B.A. in Music from
California State University, Northridge. Kaufman lives in Southern California with his wife, Gayle, a former
dancer in film, television, and on Broadway. His daughter, Whitney is a graduate (with honors) from
Chapman University in Orange, Calif., and for 2 ½ years was a member of the cast of the National Tour
of Mamma Mia.
Kaufman is proud to be represented by Opus 3 Artists.
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra: www.cso.org and www.csosoundsandstories.org/
Founded in 1891, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra is consistently hailed as one of the greatest
orchestras in the world. Since 2010, the preeminent conductor Riccardo Muti has served as its 10th
music director. Yo-Yo Ma is the CSO’s Judson and Joyce Green Creative Consultant, and Samuel Adams
and Elizabeth Ogonek are its Mead Composers-in-Residence.
From baroque through contemporary music, the CSO commands a vast repertoire. Its renowned
musicians annually perform more than 150 concerts, most at Symphony Center in Chicago and, each
summer, at the suburban Ravinia Festival. They regularly tour nationally and internationally. Since 1892,
the CSO has made 59 international tours, performing in 29 countries on five continents.
People around the globe listen to weekly radio broadcasts of CSO concerts and recordings on the WFMT
radio network and online at cso.org/radio. Recordings by the CSO have earned 62 Grammy Awards,
including two in 2011 for Muti’s recording with the CSO and Chorus of Verdi's Messa da Requiem (Muti’s
first of seven releases with the CSO to date). Find details on these and many other CSO recordings at
www.cso.org/resound.
The CSO is part of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association, which also includes the Chicago
Symphony Chorus (Duain Wolfe, Director and Conductor) and the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, a training
ensemble for emerging professionals. Through its prestigious Symphony Center Presents series, the
CSOA presents guest artists and ensembles from a variety of genres—classical, jazz, world, and
contemporary.
The Negaunee Music Institute at the CSO offers community and education programs that annually
engage more than 200,000 people of diverse ages and backgrounds. Through the Institute and other
activities, including a free annual concert with Muti and the CSO, the CSO is committed to using the
power of music to create connections and build community.
The CSO is supported by thousands of patrons, volunteers and institutional and individual donors. The
CSO’s music director position is endowed in perpetuity by a generous gift from the Zell Family
Foundation. The Negaunee Foundation provides generous support in perpetuity for the work of the
Negaunee Music Institute.