Mid-Columbia Symphony finale features ‘Lord of the Rings’ and ‘Star Wars’

Mid-Columbia Symphony’s season finale concert is this weekend in Richland.

Performances are at 7:30 p.m. May 20 and 3 p.m. May 21 in the auditorium at Richland High School, 930 Long Ave.

The show will feature music by 19the century German composer Wilhelm Richard Wagner and the Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings films.

“It will be spectacular,” Nicholas Wallin, the symphony’s music director and conductor, told the Herald last week.

Wagner, Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings have a lot in common.

Wagner’s operas are known for their use of leitmotif, in which people and objects have their own recurring musical themes. Composer John Williams used that to great effect in Star Wars, and so did Howard Shore in The Lord of the Rings, said Wallin, who teaches a class on the topic at Lake Forest College in Illinois.

The 75-piece symphony will be joined by Mid-Columbia Mastersingers, the Mid-Columbia Boys’ Choir and Hanford High School’s Varsity Chorale.

The show wraps up the symphony’s 2016-17 season, which had the theme, “Circle of Fifths.”

Tickets are $27 to $55 for adults, depending on the seat, and $15 for students. They’re available at midcolumbiasymphony.org, by calling at 509-943-6602 and at the door.

This story was originally published May 18, 2017 at 6:55 PM with the headline "Mid-Columbia Symphony finale features ‘Lord of the Rings’ and ‘Star Wars’."