Seth MacFarlane Joins John Williams and the LA Phil for MAESTRO OF THE MOVIES This Weekend

Legendary film composer John Williams returns to the Hollywood Bowl to lead the Los Angeles Philharmonic in an exciting weekend of music from the silver screen this weekend, August 29 and 30, at 8 pm. This year, Williams' program includes a salute to dance in the movies along with selections from some of his most popular scores. In addition, Williams welcomes special guest vocalist Seth MacFarlane, who joins the LA Phil to perform a set of classic film tunes including MacFarlane's Academy Award-nominated song, "Everybody Needs a Best Friend" from Ted.

John Williams: Maestro of the Movies opens with Williams' new arrangement of "That's Entertainment" and Theme from Jurrassic Park, before launching into a salute to acclaimed film director David Lean. Accompanied by film clips, the tribute includes excerpts from Maurice Jarre's scores for A Passage to India and Lawrence of Arabia. Following the salute, Williams welcomes LA Phil Principal Cellist Robert DeMaine to join the orchestra in a performance of "Sayuri's Theme" from Memoirs of a Geisha. To conclude the first half of the program, the Cal State Fullerton University Singers joins Williams and the LA Phil in a salute to the Olympic Games with "Call of the Champions," and a tribute to the American soldier with "Hymn to the Fallen" from Saving Private Ryan. The Los Angeles Children's Chorus then joins everyone on stage for a rousing performance of "Dry Your Tears, Afrika" from Amistad.

In addition to fan favorites from Superman and Star Wars, the second half of the program features a special appearance by Seth MacFarlane performing "Luck Be A Lady" from Guys and Dolls, "You're Sensational" from High Society, and "Everybody Needs a Best Friend" from Ted. Williams then leads the LA Phil in a salute to dance in the movies, accompanied by film clips and featuring Williams' arrangement of Carlos Gardel's Tango from Scent of a Woman, featuring LA Phil Associate Concertmaster Bing Wang, excerpts from George Gershwin's American In Paris, and Williams' arrangement of Ray Henderson's "The Varsity Drag."

In a career that spans five decades, John Williams has become one of America's most accomplished and successful composers for film and for the concert stage. He has served as music director and laureate conductor of one of the country's treasured musical institutions, the Boston Pops Orchestra, and he maintains thriving artistic relationships with many of the world's great orchestras, including the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Williams has received a variety of prestigious awards, including the National Medal of Arts, the Kennedy Center Honor, the Olympic Order, Grammy Awards, Emmy Awards and Golden Globe Awards. He remains one of our nation's most distinguished and contributive musical voices and has composed the music and served as music director for more than 100 hundred films. Williams has received five Academy Awards and 49 Oscar nominations, making him the Academy's most-nominated living person and the second-most nominated person in the history of the Oscars. He also has received seven British Academy Awards (BAFTA), 21 Grammys, four Golden Globes, five Emmys, and numerous gold and platinum records.

Seth MacFarlane is a true renaissance man possessing talents that encompass every aspect of the entertainment industry. He has created some of the most popular content on television and film today while also expanding his career in the worlds of music, literature and philanthropy. MacFarlane began his career studying animation and design at the Rhode Island School of Design. His talents were soon noticed by executives at FOX, where they made him an offer to create a pilot presentation. Over the next six months, MacFarlane created, animated, wrote, produced, directed, and provided all the main male characters' voices for a seven-minute short that eventually became Family Guy. He was 25 when the series aired on FOX, making him the youngest showrunner in television history. Now in its 12th season, Family Guy is a multi-billion-dollar asset for FOX. In addition to Family Guy, MacFarlane serves as co-creator, executive producer and voice actor on American Dad!. He executive produced the 21st century version of Cosmos: A Space Time Odyssey described as a 13-part updated docu-series of Carl Sagan's iconic exploration of the universe as revealed by science. The series earned a record-breaking 13 Emmy nominations, and won four. MacFarlane made his feature film directorial debut in 2012 with the highest-grossing original R-rated film of all time, Ted. A sequel is currently in production and is set for release in 2015. In May 2014, Universal released MacFarlane's western-comedy A Million Ways to Die in the West. MacFarlane's debut album, Music Is Better Than Words, debuted at No. 1 on the iTunes jazz charts in 2011 and received two Grammy nominations, including 'Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album.' In 2013, MacFarlane hosted the 85th Academy Awards and was also an Academy Award nominee the same year for 'Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song' for 'Everybody Needs a Best Friend,' from his feature film Ted. MacFarlane is the only three-time returning Roast Master on Comedy Central's Emmy Roast franchise, and in 2012, he hosted the premiere of the 38th season of Saturday Night Live. MacFarlane created the The Seth MacFarlane Foundation in 2009 to focus his charitable efforts. Through this foundation, he funded the Seth MacFarlane collection of the Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan archive at the Library of Congress.

Featuring The LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC with JOHN WILLIAMS, conductor, SETH MacFARLANE, special guest vocalist, the CAL STATE FULLERTON UNIVERSITY SINGERS and the LOS ANGELES CHILDREN'S CHORUS, the concert is set for Friday, August 29, 2014, at 8 PM and Saturday, August 30, 2014, at 8 PM at THE HOLLYWOOD BOWL, 2301 N Highland Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90068.

Subscriptions and single tickets are available now for the Hollywood Bowl 2014 summer season at HollywoodBowl.com or Ticketmaster.com, or via phone at 323.850.2000, and in person at the Hollywood Bowl Box Office. For more information, call 323.850.2000.

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