Tebowing with Jango Fett

I'm a huge John Williams fan. As a kid, I remember listening to the John Williams and the Boston Pops "Pops in Space" tape over and over. And over again. I loved it. So when I hear his music today, I'm reminded of my childhood. Warm fuzzies all around. But I also just flat out think he's one of the best soundtrack composers ever. Back in the day he did Star Wars, Superman, Indiana Jones, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and Jaws. Now he's done Harry Potter and the Star Wars prequels. Just naming a few here since he's seriously composed hundreds of award-winning scores to date.

Last Tuesday the Utah Symphony had their John Williams Tribute night. I love the symphony (my mother taught me to have an appreciation for and to understand the importance of good music; love her for that). And I enjoy any evening spent at Abravanel Hall. So this was a concert I wasn't about to miss. I reserved a few tickets and invited the nephews to come along. Oh, we had so much fun!


On the program where some of his best known works (those I listed above). Brandon and Luke loved it; being familiar with almost all of them, they never stopped grinning. And me, well, it may or may not have taken only two notes into the first song for me to tear up. I'm such a sap. Luke sat on my lap for a good portion of the concert and we talked about the music and the instruments. I taught him to listen to the notes and imagine what was going on in the film. We giggled at the percussionists during the Superman theme. Brandon followed along in the printed program and kept us informed on what was coming next. But the icing on the cake was the conductor. He was hysterical. And he catered a lot of his commentary to the kids in the audience. His Darth Vader impersonation was spot on.

Before and after the concert they had Star Wars characters you could take your picture with. I let the boys choose. And while everyone else walked up and just put their arm around the character, Brandon and Luke went with more unique options . . .


At the conclusion of the concert we wandered around Abravanel Hall for a bit and just enjoyed the ambiance. We chatted up some more Star Wars characters and took some pictures. We ran into a couple of friends and visited. And on the way home we stopped for our family's traditional post-symphony ice cream. It seriously could not have been a better night.