Cho-Liang Lin.
In Friday’s (10/3) ContactMusic.com, an unsigned article states, “When Cho-Liang Lin performed Tan Dun’s Hero Violin Concerto in Qingdao, China, with film projections of Jet Li and Donnie Yen battling behind him, he demonstrated a philosophy that has guided his programming for decades: film music belongs in concert halls alongside Brahms and Beethoven, not relegated to separate ‘pops’ concerts. Film composers create orchestral masterworks that deserve serious consideration … These composers write for identical orchestras using identical instrumentation and harmonic language as concert repertoire. During his 18-year tenure as Music Director of La Jolla SummerFest, Lin commissioned and premiered 54 new works, integrating film composers like Lalo Schifrin alongside Mozart and Schubert instead of segregating them into separate concerts…. Lin places film-derived works within mixed programs instead of dedicating entire concerts to film music…. Pops performances, heavily featuring film music, generate 15-20% of orchestral ticket revenue annually, according to League of American Orchestras data…. Contemporary classical composition increasingly draws from film music innovations, with orchestral works now routinely incorporating electronic elements, world music influences, and extended techniques.” The article refers to multiple U.S. and international orchestras that perform film music.
