Review: TRUST ORCHESTRA's THE LEGENDS 8 Enchants with Magical Ghibli and Dreamworks Tunes

On May 13th and 14th 2023, the award-winning TRUST Orchestra returned to the stage for THE LEGENDS 8 concert, subtitled "Symphonic Tales From Ghibli & Dreamworks". Held in the luxurious Ciputra Artpreneur theater, the performance delights the audience with the lush and whimsical scores of the animation studios' finest musical works.

This review is based on the Sunday, 14th of May 2023 show, an extra show added due to the high demand from the audience. On that day, Ciputra Artpreneur was packed with people in colorful cosplay, some simple yet charming, and some others very much extravagant and fascinating.

The show opened with two numbers performed by TRUST Jr. and Trust Chorus, Accidentally in Love from Shrek and Kung Fu Fighting from Kung Fu Panda. Both were cute, peppy numbers that readily charmed the audience. In addition to the music, ballet dancers from MENARI took to the stage and danced to the music, adding a great visual aspect to the performance.

Then, the main show commenced. TRUST Orchestra is conducted by its celebrated cofounder and music director, Nathania Karina. Another endearing detail was that all the musicians and even the conductor herself were in costumes from either Dreamworks or Ghibli.

Some of the performances that really truly struck me were Princess Mononoke's theme, One Summer's Day, Merry Go Round of Life (a fan favorite), and the How To Train Your Dragon Suite. These numbers were very dynamic, making for an engaging and even shiver-inducing experience.

There was even a sneak peek for the next Legends concert: the Pixar Medley. This number was truly very exciting and another major highlight of the show. Due to the audience's enthusiasm, we got two encores. One was Tonari no Totoro, undoubtedly one of the most iconic Ghibli songs; and the other was, unsurprisingly, Merry Go Round of Life.

Beyond the music, the visuals on the large screen behind the orchestra really set the mood and made the experience all-rounded. The dancers that appeared in a lot of the numbers also did amazingly well, and were the cherries on top (especially in Ponyo, where we had very young and adorable ballerinas and a singer).

All in all, it was a fantastic watch and the crowd truly loved the show. TRUST Orchestra has once again proven that they were not only excellent musicians, but outstanding performers as well.

This review is mainly written by guest contributor A, with minor edits by the Indonesian Regional Contributor.