London Soundtrack Festival to celebrate film, TV and video game music

12 June, 2024

David Shore (centre) composed the Lord of the Rings' score

A new festival has been announced to run next year, which will celebrate film, TV and video game music.

London Soundtrack Festival will be headlined by Oscar-winning Lord Of The Rings composer Howard Shore and will run in association with the BFI next year from March 19-26.

The event will feature a conversation with Shore and legendary filmmaker David Cronenberg about their collaborative work, as well as live performances, panel discussions, in-conversation screenings, composer Q&As and masterclasses with some of the biggest names in film, TV and games music.

Cronenberg and Shore have worked together for over 45 years on films including Videodrome, The Fly, Dead Ringers, Crash, M Butterfly, Eastern Promises, A History of Violence, Naked Lunch and The Shrouds – their most recent collaboration and their 17th overall.

A retrospective of the work of Shore will run alongside events events celebrating the work of Hildur Guðnadóttir (Tar, Joker), Anna Meredith (Eighth Grade), Anne Dudley (Poldark, The Full Monty), Harry Gregson-Williams (The Martian), Stephen Barton (Star Trek: Picard, Star Wars: Jedi – Fallen Order, Apex Legends), Natalie Holt (Loki, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Paddington) and Paul Farrer (The Chase, Weakest Link). More artists are expected to be announced soon.

The event will also feature some of London’s leading orchestras and will be held in venues across London included Southbank Centre, BFI IMAX, The Roundhouse, Alexandra Palace, Wigmore Hall and Cadogan Hall.

At the festival, Shore will become the first recipient of the Gunning Inspiration Award, which will be presented to him by Cronenberg as part of the LSF’s central Gala Concert.

Shore will also introduce exclusive screenings of some of his most iconic scores, with further details to be announced.

Speaking about the event, Shore said: “It is an honour to be invited to the inaugural London Soundtrack Festival and to be the first recipient of the Inspiration Award. After many years of recording with the great London Philharmonic Orchestra, I am so looking forward to reuniting with them at the Gala Concert.”

Unveiling details of the inaugural Festival this morning (June 12) at BFI Southbank, Festival Founder and Artistic Director Tommy Pearson said: “It’s really exciting to be bringing this brand-new festival to London – the film, TV and games music capital of the world – and to celebrate the greatest composers working today who create the soundtrack to our lives.

“For me, it’s the culmination of a lifetime’s love of film and TV music; a chance to give audiences young and old (and everyone in between!) world-class performances, fascinating masterclasses, screenings and events for many years to come.”

Stuart Brown, Director of Programmes and Distribution at the BFI added: “Music is the spiritual soul of cinema, television and video games, it inhabits our hearts, minds and dreams.  We’re buzzing to be working with the London Soundtrack Festival to bring this very exciting new festival to audiences, and to be part of a really meaningful celebration of the incredible talent that brings these art forms to life.”

Tickets to the Festival will go on sale in September 2024 here.

In other news, Warner Bros. are set to release a new Lord Of The Rings film in 2026, featuring help from Peter Jackson.

The news of the upcoming film arrived last month (May 9), during a conference call about Warner Bros. Discovery’s first-quarter earnings, according to The Hollywood Reporter. In the meeting, CEO David Zaslav revealed that the company is “now in the early stages of script development” for a new batch of Lord Of The Rings films, which will “explore storylines yet to be told.”

The first of them has the working title Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, and, as the title suggests, will centre around Andy Serkis’ Gollum.

Peter Jackon, the filmmaker behind the original trilogy, will be producing the movie alongside Philippa Boyens and Fran Walsh, and is expected to be “involved every step of the way” according to Zaslav. It is set to be released in cinemas in 2026.

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