The Music of John Williams: 95th Birthday Tribute Opens New Film Music Legends Series

Performed live by the Filharmonika Orchestra under the baton of conductor Gerard Salonga, the series celebrates renowned film music composers and their works, beginning with a tribute to John Williams in honor of his 95th birthday.

January 30-31, 2027 at Proscenium Theater, Rockwell Center Makati

Film Concerts Philippines, the country’s leading producer of live-to-film concerts, announces Film Music Legends, a new concert series presenting film music in a standalone orchestral format, without film projection.

Each installment will explore a composer’s wider body of work, featuring well-known scores alongside pieces rarely performed live. Selected programs will also bring together works by multiple composers connected by a shared theme, genre, or period in film history.

The series is curated by Maestro Gerard Salonga, founder and musical director of the Filharmonika Orchestra, who developed the programming in collaboration with Mikhail Schemm, founder and CEO of Third Culture Entertainment Inc., the company behind Film Concerts Philippines. Salonga has conducted an extensive repertoire of film scores throughout his career, both in the Philippines and internationally.

“This is an exciting new series of concerts dedicated to celebrating the music of these composers,” Salonga says. “Yes, the music was originally composed for film, but as you will hear, these pieces can stand up very well on their own as concert pieces. I’m convinced that many of these works will become part of the ‘classical’ symphonic repertoire, and in fact, over the course of music history, many pieces originally intended for a different purpose, such as opera overtures by Rossini and incidental music composed as scoring for plays by the likes of Beethoven and Mendelssohn, and even Korngold’s film music, have become part of the symphonic concert repertoire.

“One of the things I look forward to most is presenting these pieces in the world-class acoustical environment of the Proscenium, which is the proper setting for symphonic music. No microphones or amplification, just great natural acoustics to share these works with the audience in the best possible light: great music with a fantastic orchestra, in a fabulous-sounding concert hall designed for classical music. This combination makes for a complete experience. It was a delight to curate these programmes with Mikhail.”

Film Music Legends will be presented at the Proscenium Theater, an intimate 776-seat performing arts venue at Rockwell Center in Makati. Designed with the acoustic expertise of Müller-BBM, the theater’s main hall allows the full depth and detail of orchestral music to be heard through its natural acoustics, without microphones or amplification.

“At Proscenium, we designed our theater to be a home for great music, because great music deserves a space where it can be truly heard and appreciated,” says Tracey Castillo, Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of Rockwell Land Corporation. 

“The Film Music Legends series is a wonderful opportunity to do just that. We are grateful to be the venue for a thoughtfully selected repertoire that brings some of the most iconic compositions written for cinema into an intimate concert setting. We’re delighted to welcome Film Concerts Philippines and the Filharmonika Orchestra to Proscenium, and to bring this exceptional music to our community.”

Three concerts will be presented throughout 2027. The series opens in January with The Music of John Williams: 95th Birthday Tribute, honoring the legendary “Maestro of the Movies” and his enduring contribution to cinema. The program will feature music from Harry Potter, Saving Private Ryan, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Jurassic Park, Superman, Star Wars, Amistad, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and Fiddler on the Roof.

In May, Italian Film Music Legends will celebrate the works of Ennio Morricone, Nino Rota, and Nicola Piovani—composers behind the music of such films as Nuovo Cinema Paradiso, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, and The Godfather, among many others.

The series concludes in September with a program featuring heroic and villainous scores from across film history, spanning horror, thrillers, Westerns, and superhero films.

Mikhail Schemm shares his vision for giving audiences the opportunity to experience and appreciate film music independently of the films for which it was composed:

“It was a pleasure developing the program with Gerard. We’re both excited to take a more curated approach to presenting film music. The popular films and soundtracks featured in our concerts are audience favourites, but it has long been our goal to introduce audiences here to a broader repertoire, including deeper cuts from film music. Being able to do this through our own original concert series makes it all the more exciting.”

An exclusive Film Concerts Philippines pre-sale for the first installment, The Music of John Williams: 95th Birthday Tribute, will begin on October 12 at 10:00 AM. Audiences may subscribe at filmconcerts.ph/community to receive early access.

A separate pre-sale for Rockwell employees, residents, and tenants will open on October 15.

Public ticket sales begin on October 20 via Ticketmelon.com

The Music of John Williams: 95th Birthday Tribute is presented by Film Concerts PH.

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