The Conroe Symphony Orchestra Celebrates John Williams

CONROE, TX -- You couldn’t have packed one more sardine in the First Methodist Church in Conroe on February 7th, as the Conroe Symphony Orchestra (CSO) presented their 3rd concert of their 2025-2026 season, with their ‘Tribute to John Williams.’ In his seven decades of work in the music world Williams has touched the listening life of almost every American, and billions more across the world. John Williams’ career started back with his time in the U.S. Air Force in the early 1950s, and progressed soon after with orchestral work, and the creation of film scores and music for television series. By the mid-1960s, the major studios in Hollywood started calling for his talents, and he never looked back. CSO President Bill Thompson took to the microphone welcoming the sellout crowd, and rightfully praising the hard work of conductor Gary Liebst and the orchestral players in their preparation for the event. The concert covered a quarter-century of Williams’ more popular and important works, giving those in attendance a chance to hear the music live and in-person away from the films with their action segments.

Without Williams’ musical contributions to American cinemas’ greatest films, films like

Harry Potter, Jurassic Park, Star Wars, Superman, and Raiders of the Lost Art, would not be as popular as they are today. He took a generations worth or work, and shaped the American sense of wonder, adventure and heroism, making the melodies part of the stories themselves. The magic of the first triumphant brass of Star Wars opening started his golden period, where he was able to capture the magic of a script and interpret the music that made his projects legendary.

In the decades and decades of his work, few know of the projects prior to the 1970s, but for the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California, Williams was asked to complete a piece that sincerely reflected the grandeur of the top level of international sport. The iconic opening ‘Olympic Fanfare and Theme’ has fascinated games goers since the Los Angeles event, but the beginnings date back to Napoleon’s time with Joseph-David Buhl with his calvary piece ‘Salut Aux Etendards,’ and picked up energy in 1958 when French-American composer Leo Arnaud enhanced it into ‘Bugler’s Dream,’ which the ABC Network used as their opening theme in 1964 for their Winter Olympics coverage. Williams borrowed from Arnaud’s brilliance and relied on its underlying harmony for his rendition, and the introduction of the lower brass deviating from Arnaud gave Williams’ arrangement and additional work new life. The flourishing of activity in the quick paced harmony following the opening, sets Williams apart from his predecessors encompassing the sacrifice of preparation for the games, with included bugle reprises, representing competition. A new melody, shorter, increasing in intensity, creates a harmony that brings reflections of the stress of competition, which builds to the resolution of the tension. Or as famed ABC sports commentator Jim McKay would say, encompasses "The thrill of victory, and the agony of defeat." The beautiful combination of the melodies, and their changing harmonic centers is a joy to hear, and celebrates victory in sports, with the hope of an American victor. The Conroe Symphony Orchestra’s performance brought back memories of the opening of the 1984 Olympics.

John Williams took screen orchestration to new levels, and composed memorable episodes that focused on mood, atmosphere, personality, with a style that blended romanticism. His ability to capture the tension, texture, and emotional experience of some of the most remarkable moments in film. Williams was able to take concepts priorly unseen, and searched his mind to make the music that exactly represented what was happening on-screen. Williams’ ability to start a project and within a short amount of time start recording was incredible. For the ‘Highlights of Jurassic Park,’ he was able to create the unique movements of the dinosaurs themselves in music, and in many of his works he was able to convey a sense of awe, fascination, feelings of happiness, or dread. Williams even used musical phonics to say ‘Superman.’

In his work on Schindler’s List, the movie about a Bohemian-German industrialist who went on to save a thousand Jews from being systemically slaughtered by the Nazis, Williams’ himself did not feel worthy to write the score, but found it in himself at the behest of director Steven Spielberg, to present a haunting masterpiece. The piece presented itself as an expression of sorrow and lamentations for the butchering of a nation. The CSO’s performance of ‘The Theme from Schindler’s List’ told the story of man’s inhumanity to man, but at the same time heralded their abilities to perform such a sad instance to perfection. Concertmaster Dr Sheronna McMahon’s solo violin performance of the theme demonstrated the horror that the Jews suffered at the hands of the seemingly sane yet murderous group of people in a manner unbelieving in reality.

Williams’ instinct for promoting an adventurous spirit, suspense, and eventual triumph captivated audiences in Star Wars, Superman, and Raiders of the Lost Ark. Even in his lesser known films such as ‘Catch Me If You Can,’ from 2002, Williams’ approach is unique in that he puts forward a playful jazz theme in a cat and mouse story between a multiple identitied check forger and an FBI agent. The invited soloist for the concert, saxophonist Sal Jimenez, CISDs Cryar Intermediate band director, delighted the audience with his play, at times brought about an almost reminiscence of the beatnik influence, with thoughts of Jack Kerouac popping out and breaking out into spontaneous prose. Jimenez has a personal relationship with his saxophone which he adores, and thankfully he was able to share his talent with the audience, receiving a tremendous applause.

The CSO’s afternoon of entertainment highlighting the works of John Williams was worthy of the packed house that soothed the fascination of those in attendance with memories of nearly a half-century ago, and was a great start to 2026 and the remaining concert season.

The Conroe Symphony Orchestra is supported in part by Texas Commission on the Arts, National Endowment for the Arts, the Apricity Foundation, the Spikes Group, the Cullen Trust for the Performing Arts, and the Montgomery County Community Foundation. The CSO was founded in 1997, and was created to contribute to the cultural enrichment of Conroe and the county as a whole, assuring a better quality of life for everyone in the area. The CSO’s objective is to provide the region with the best possible musical experience, while creating music lovers and connecting communities. They strive to be recognized as one of the outstanding community orchestras in the state of Texas, and as a non-profit community orchestra, it is supported through individual and corporate donations, grants, and ticket sales.

The next event of the CSO schedule is the Casino Night Fundraiser at the Conroe Symphony Center, on February 21, from 4:30 - 8:00pm.

The next concert is ‘Disney in Concert: A Dream is a Wish,’ to be performed on May 2nd, 2:30pm, at the Willis ISD Performing Arts Center..

The CSO website is: conroesymphony.org Please consider donating to this wonderful organization.

Ruben can be reached at: ruben@montgomerycountynews.net