Conceived and designed by Maria Jette, this year's ACS chamber music concert features the music of one of film’s most prominent musical families. Alfred Newman (1900-1970) was with Herrmann, Korngold and Steiner one of the great pioneers of American film music. He wrote over 250 film scores (including The Robe, How Green Was My Valley, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, The Song of Bernadette, The Grapes of Wrath, The Prisoner of Zenda and The Hunchback of Notre Dame), accumulated 45 Academy Award nominations and 9 Oscars.
His daughter Maria is an accomplished composer in her own right, as are sons David and Thomas and nephew Randy. Thomas' credits include Fried Green Tomatoes, The Shawshank Redemption, Scent of A Woman and American Beauty; he has multiple Grammy, Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations to his credit. Randy has composed award winning music for many films, including Toy Story, Toy Story 2, Parenthood, The Natural, Forrest Gump, Awakenings and Meet the Parents. His popular compositions have appeared in many others.
Selections from the concert include Alfred Newman, Suite from The Robe (1953) - arr. Maria Newman; Maria Newman, Kestrel and Leonardo (1994), Randy Newman, Selections from Faust (1995) and Toy Story 2 (1999), and Thomas Newman, Selections from Three Mean Fairy Tales (1978).