Valentine's Day weekend program will include screening of iconic film The Princess Bride, accompanied live by the DSO with conductor Nicholas Buc at Orchestra Hall
The Princess Bride celebrates 35th anniversary in 2022
Tickets on sale now at dso.org
Detroit, (October 27, 2022) – This February, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) will celebrate 35 years of The Princess Bride with a cinematic concert experience at Orchestra Hall on Valentine’s Day weekend. For the first time, composer Mark Knopfler’s unforgettable score has been specially arranged for symphony orchestra and will be played live-to-picture by the DSO under conductor Nicholas Buc. For two nights only, audiences can experience one of the most beloved films of all time as never before.
Directed by Rob Reiner and with narration by Peter Falk, The Princess Bride features an all-star cast including Robin Wright, Cary Elwes, Wallace Shawn, Mandy Patinkin, Chris Sarandon, Billy Crystal, Carol Kane, Christopher Guest, Fred Savage, and André the Giant.
The film follows the tale of the beautiful maiden, Buttercup, and her one true love, a young farm hand named Westley. After he’s captured by a ruthless pirate and presumed dead, Buttercup’s unhappy marriage to the horrible Prince Humperdinck seems inevitable. But before the wedding can take place, she’s kidnapped by three outlaws and it’s up to a mysterious Man in Black to come to her rescue.
The film’s score is by Mark Knopfler, an acclaimed British singer-songwriter, guitarist, record producer, and composer. He is best known as the lead singer, lead guitarist, and songwriter of internationally celebrated rock band, Dire Straits.
“To have been a part of The Princess Bride gives me enormous pride and joy. To me, the picture has never lost an ounce of its freshness and charm,” said Knopfler. “I couldn’t be more delighted to see it finding more devotees around the world with every passing year.”
The Princess Bride in Concert will take place Tuesday, February 14, 2023 at 7:30 p.m. and Wednesday, February 15, 2023 at 7:30 p.m. at Orchestra Hall.
Tickets for these performances start at $48 and can be purchased at dso.org or by calling the Box Office at 313.576.5111, open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
2022-2023 SEASON DSO SAFETY POLICIES: The DSO no longer requires audiences to provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test to attend performances. Masks are optional although strongly recommended at DSO performances, particularly when Wayne County and surrounding communities are in the high or "red" category as defined by the CDC. The DSO asks audience members to do their part to create a safe environment for everyone and encourages those who are not feeling well to stay home.
The Princess Bride in Concert is produced by Film Concerts Live!, a joint venture of IMG Artists, LLC and The Gorfaine/Schwartz Agency, Inc.
© The Princess Bride Limited. All Rights Reserved.
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THE PRINCESS BRIDE IN CONCERT
DSO Presents
Tuesday, February 14, 2023 at 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, February 15, 2023 at 7:30 p.m.
Orchestra Hall
Nicholas Buc, conductor
“As you wish…” Fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles... The Detroit Symphony Orchestra performs the entire musical score live-to-picture to The Princess Bride. Experience one of the most beloved films of all time as never before... with the power of a full symphony orchestra in Orchestra Hall. Missing this cinematic concert experience would be inconceivable!
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About Nicholas Buc
Nicholas Buc is a composer, conductor, arranger, violinist, and pianist. He studied Composition with Brenton Broadstock and Dr. Stuart Greenbaum at the University of Melbourne, where he received the inaugural Fellowship of Australian Composers Award. As the recipient of the Brian May Scholarship for Australian film composers, he completed a master’s degree in Scoring for Film and Multimedia at New York University, studying with Ira Newborn and Paul Chihara as well as receiving the Elmer Bernstein Award for Film Scoring.
Continuing his passion for music and film, he conducted the live-in-concert world premieres of John Williams’ Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Alan Menken’s Beauty and the Beast and Nicholas Hooper’s Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Other live film concerts he has conducted include Pixar In Concert, Star Trek, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Back to the Future, Casino Royale, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Jurassic Park, Psycho, Star Wars: Episodes IV, V, VI and VII and the first three Harry Potter films. He has conducted all of the major Australian symphony orchestras as well as the Minnesota Orchestra, Houston, Milwaukee, Indianapolis, Austin, Grand Rapids and Madison symphony orchestras in the US. He also makes regular appearances in Asia, conducting the Tokyo, Hong Kong, Malaysian, Osaka, and Taipei Philharmonic orchestras.
Buc is regularly commissioned and some of his works have been premiered by the Royal Melbourne Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir, The Australian Voices, the Melbourne Chamber Orchestra, the Benaud Trio and Concordis Chamber Choir. He has also written for film and television, with some of his work being screened at festivals and theatres around Australia, Asia and the US. In 2007 he was nominated for “Best Original Song Composed for the Screen” in the APRA-AGSC Screen Music Awards, and in 2015 was a winning finalist of the NYU Film Scoring Competition.
He has been adjudicator of the Original Composition sections at the Dandenong Music and Arts Festival and the South Eastern Arts Festival, as well as Musical Director for Windmill Theatre Company, receiving both a Lyrebird and Music Theatre Guild nomination for Best Musical Director. Recent conducting engagements include concerts with Grammy-winning US trumpeter Chris Botti, Amanda Palmer of The Dresden Dolls fame, and the Australian national tour for singer-songwriter Ben Folds.
Buc has worked with Tina Arena on six Australian tours, writing new orchestral arrangements and conducting the Sydney, Queensland, Adelaide, and West Australian symphony orchestras. He has also written arrangements for Missy Higgins, Passenger, Eskimo Joe and The Whitlams, as well as working on five seasons of The Voice Australia. His orchestral arrangements for the recent shows All You Need Is Love (The Beatles), Stairway To Heaven (Led Zeppelin), Nothing Has Changed…Remembering Bowie (David Bowie) and Praying For Time (George Michael) have been enjoyed by audiences around Australia.
In 2009 Buc was commissioned to write an hour-long cantata mass for the centenary of the death of Mary MacKillop, and 2008 saw the premiere of his Requiem Concordia, commissioned by Concordis Chamber Choir to mark their 10th-anniversary. After a string of infamous pop covers, his long-standing affiliation with the Benaud Trio culminated in a new commission, Trailer Music, which has been released on their debut album. This piece was recently the subject of a new film created by 6 emerging filmmakers in conjunction with contemporary music group anon., and was featured at TEDxFoggyBottom in Washington D.C.
He is currently completing work on a major theatrical work, TROT. Written with lyricist Gordon Lindsay, it is a new musical based on Charles Dickens’s much-loved David Copperfield. He also recently completed a new ballet score, Kazka, for Lehenda Ukrainian Dance Company, which toured throughout Australia, Canada, and the US.
About the DSO
The most accessible orchestra on the planet, the acclaimed Detroit Symphony Orchestra is known for trailblazing performances, collaborations with the world’s foremost musical artists, and a deep connection to its city. As a community-supported orchestra, generous giving by individuals and institutions at all levels drives the continued success and growth of the organization. In January 2020, Italian conductor Jader Bignamini was named the DSO’s next music director to commence with the 2020-2021 season. Celebrated conductor, arranger, and trumpeter Jeff Tyzik is the orchestra’s Principal Pops Conductor, while Oscar-nominated trumpeter and composer Terence Blanchard holds the Fred A. Erb Jazz Creative Director Chair.
Making its home at historic Orchestra Hall within the Max M. and Marjorie S. Fisher Music Center, the DSO offers a performance schedule that features PVS Classical, PNC Pops, Paradise Jazz, and Young People’s Family Concert series. One of the world’s most acoustically perfect concert halls, Orchestra Hall celebrated its centennial in 2019-2020. In addition, the DSO presents the William Davidson Neighborhood Concert Series in seven metro area venues, as well as a robust schedule of eclectic multi-genre performances in its mid-size venue The Cube, constructed and curated with support from Peter D. & Julie F. Cummings.
A dedication to broadcast innovation began in 1922, when the DSO became the first orchestra in the world to present a live radio broadcast of a concert and continues today with the groundbreaking Live from Orchestra Hall series of free webcasts, which also reaches tens of thousands of children with the Classroom Edition expansion. With growing attendance and unwavering philanthropic support from the people of Detroit, the DSO actively pursues a mission to embrace and inspire individuals, families, and communities through unsurpassed musical experiences.