THE LORD OF THE RINGS SYMPHONY
BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND
Tickets to go on sale at 10:00 a.m. May 16th

The Houston Symphony performs Howard Shore’s The Lord of the Rings
Symphony.

Friday, July 8, 2005 7:30 PM Jones Hall, 615 Louisiana
Saturday, July 9, 2005 7:30 PM

Alastair Willis, conductor
Houston Symphony Chorus Charles Hausmann, director
Houston Children’s Chorus Stephen Roddy, founder and director
Kaitlyn Lusk, lyric soprano

Concert ticket prices are $21-$56. Tickets are available at the Houston Symphony Customer Service Center, 615 Louisiana, by phone at (713) 224-7575 and online at houstonsymphony.org

Join the Houston Symphony for a musical journey into the realm of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth, featuring more than 200 musicians and singers, with large original illustrations projected above the Jones Hall stage. The images will be projected on a gigantic screen hung above the orchestra and will chronologically align with the music as the story of the Hobbits’ journey from the peaceful Shire to the dreaded land of Mordor unfolds.

“This Lord of the Rings Symphony is a two-hour piece based on the 12 hours of music I wrote for the three films,” says Howard Shore. “Each film was a four-hour composition. And this new symphony takes a concert audience through the story of the Lord of the Rings in a narrative way, using the choirs, using the singing.” The choruses will sing in “Elvish,” and musicians will play such instruments as Norwegian fiddles, Japanese drums, African flutes and Tibetan gongs.

The Houston Museum of Natural Science and the Houston Symphony are offering a family package that includes four rear orchestra level tickets to the symphony concert and four passes to the The Lord of the Rings Motion Picture Trilogy: The Exhibition ? all for $189. To purchase this package you must call the Houston Symphony Customer Service Center at (713)224-7575.

To learn more about the Houston Museum of Natural Science The Lord of the Rings Motion Picture Trilogy: The Exhibition please http://www.hmns.org” TARGET=NEW>click here.

Scott in Toronto writes: I wanted to report that the Harbourfront Centre’s Premiere Dance Theatre in Toronto, Canada is presenting Charles Ross in his “One Man Lord of the Rings” show on April 28, 9 pm and April 30, 4 pm. The address and phone number of the Premiere Dance theatre is as follows. [More]

“When Manwë heard of the ways that Melkor had taken, it seemed plain to him that he purposed to escape to his old strongholds in the north of Middle-earth; and Oromë and Tulkas went with all speed northward, seeking to overtake him if they might, but they found no trace or rumour of him beyond the shores of the Teleri …” (The Silmarillion Chapter 8 — Of the Darkening of Valinor) [More]

“When Manwë heard of the ways that Melkor had taken, it seemed plain to him that he purposed to escape to his old strongholds in the north of Middle-earth; and Oromë and Tulkas went with all speed northward, seeking to overtake him if they might, but they found no trace or rumour of him beyond the shores of the Teleri …” (The Silmarillion Chapter 8 — Of the Darkening of Valinor)

Having shown his true colours, Melkor has fled to parts unknown. Thinking Melkor hiding in Middle-earth, the powers appear to relax their guard when they throw a party. Stung at not having been invited, Melkor and his new ally Ungoliant gatecrash and proceed to trash the place. The Two Trees are destroyed, Finwe slain and the Silmarils taken.

Is this yet another instance of the Valar being inattentive and forgetful? Was Melkor’s attitude and plan obvious from his earlier confrontation with Feanor over the Silmarils, or did he simply go further than anyone could have thought possible?

And what of Melkor’s pact with Ungoliant? Why did Melkor believe he needed her assistance, and did Ungoliant accept his promise (lightly made as it was) too easily?

Who and what is Ungoliant? Why did Tolkien choose to make her a spider? Why could she not change form if she was a Maia? Or was she something else? And why was Melkor soon to lose his ability to change form at will?

These are just a few of the questions we’ll be discussing at Hall of Fire this weekend. So join us in #thehalloffire on Sunday April 17 as we continue our Silmarillion chats and discuss the Darkening of Valinor!

Time and date:
Sunday April 17

America:
2.00pm EST
1.00pm CST
12.00pm MST
11.00am PST

Europe:
7:00pm UK
8:00pm Central Europe

Asia-Pacific
5.00am (Monday) Brisbane
5.00am (Monday) Sydney
7.00am (Monday) Wellington

Chats usually last 45 mins to an hour, and are very newbie friendly. Simply drop in and join the conversation!

Where?

Chat happens on #thehalloffire on irc.theonering.net – the TORn IRC server. You can connect instantly via our java chat client that works inside your web browser (find it here! ) or choose to install a dedicated chat program such as mIRC on your computer.

To find out more about using mIRC to connect to TORn IRC server, check out these instructions.

Upcoming topics:

“Silmarillion Chapter 8 – Of the Darkening of Valinor”
– Sunday April 17

“Tell us your LoTR fan experience!’
– Saturday April 23
– Sunday May 1

“Silmarillion Chapter 9 – Of the Flight of the Noldor”
– Saturday May 7
– Sunday May 15

“Is LoTR unfilmable? Was Tolkien right?”
– Saturday May 21
– Sunday May 29

Got a topic? Let us know your idea!

If you have a burning desire to discuss something in Hall of Fire, drop us a line with your topic at halloffire@theonering.net. If we like it, we’ll probably give it a run in the coming weeks – you might even get to guest moderate the session!

Join HoF Announce!

Did you know that Hall of Fire has a mailing list? Join today and get topic announcements and news delivered regularly to your inbox!

Hof-announce@theonering.net
http://www.theonering.net/mailman/listinfo/hof-announce

'Kingdom of Heaven' Promo Tour: Tokyo Various images of Orlando Bloom in Tokyo Wednesday, April 13, 2005. He was Tokyo to promote Ridley Scott’s ‘Kingdom of Heaven,’ the saga of a battling knight, played by Bloom, in the Middle East during the Crusades era. [More]

Turgon writes: We’ve just posted a new Science of Middle-earth Column by Olog-Hai, a brief update to one of his previous speculations. This update is called “Sex and the Single Orc”. [More]