The San Francisco Symphony will give the 100th performance of Howard Shore’s Lord of the Rings Symphony in July, according to organizers. The work, a concert adaptation of Shore’s scores for the three Lord of the Rings films, has proved enormously popular since its debut in Wellington, New Zealand in 2003. Nearly all of its performances, given by orchestras around the world, have sold out. Performances in Oslo and Bergen, Norway, last year drew crowds of 70,000 and 30,000, respectively. The six-movement, two-hour symphony is scored for orchestra, adult and children’s choirs, and soloists. At the San Francisco Symphony’s performances on July 14 and 15, Markus Huber, one of several conductors who have toured with the work, will be on the podium; soloists include soprano Kaitlyn Lusk. The event will also include projections of illustrations and storyboard sketches of the Lord of the Rings saga. [More]