Since 1973, The Tolkien Society have hosted a gathering to celebrate the life and works of J.R.R. Tolkien, and this weekend they’re doing it again – for the 50th time. This coincides with the 50th anniversary of the Professor’s death, on September 2nd. Fans are gathering in Oxford from around the world for this special event; here’s what the society’s press release tells us:
350 Tolkien fans from around 25 different countries are meeting in Oxford next weekend to celebrate the life and works of J.R.R. Tolkien.
The event, taking place at St Anne’s College, Oxford from Thursday 31st August to Sunday 3rd September, has sold out due to the increasing popularity of Tolkien’s works. The event follows the recent publication of The Fall of Númenor and the release of the Amazon TV-series The Rings of Power set in the Second Age of Middle-earth.
The event itself will include talks from leading Tolkien scholars – including Brian Sibley, editor of The Fall of Númenor, screenwriter of The Lord of the Rings radio series and biographer of Peter Jackson – quizzes, workshops, an art exhibition, a masquerade, a Hobbit bake-off, a party and even theatrical performances. The weekend concludes, as always, with Enyalie, a ceremony of remembrance at Tolkien’s grave in Wolvercote Cemetery on Sunday afternoon. With attendees from 25 different countries, this year’s Oxonmoot takes place following the publication of the Sunday Times bestseller, The Fall of Númenor, proving the continuing popularity of J.R.R. Tolkien as author relevant in the 21st Century. Tolkien’s best-known work was The Lord of the Rings, which has been translated into over 50 languages and estimates put sales at over 150 million copies worldwide.
Founded in 1969 by Vera Chapman, The Tolkien Society is an educational charity and literary society with the aim of promoting the life and works with J.R.R. Tolkien. Tolkien himself supported the organisation and gave it his seal of approval by agreeing to become The Tolkien Society’s President. On Tolkien’s death the family recommended he stay as President, so, to this day, he remains The Tolkien Society’s Honorary President in perpetuo. The Society has 4,000 members and hosts events up and down the country every week.
Shaun Gunner, Chair of The Tolkien Society, said: “Tolkien is as popular as ever as we’ve packed out St Anne’s College to have a celebratory weekend like no other! Not only will we be joined by Brian Sibley, but Bear McCreary – composer of the score of The Rings of Power – and other Tolkien scholars are joining us. People are coming over from 5 continents to share their love for Tolkien and their passion for his works. Oxonmoot has been going for 50 years and provides an excellent opportunity for hundreds of fans from around the world to come together for a weekend of fun and fellowship in Oxford, a location so important to Tolkien.” He added, “This year’s Oxonmoot is particularly special: the world’s longest-running Tolkien event reaches its 50th anniversary, which coincides with the 50th anniversary of Tolkien’s death.“
This year marks the 50th anniversary of Oxonmoot, an annual event hosted by The Tolkien Society in Oxford, UK. The event will be available to stream live from Thursday, August 31 through Sunday, September 3.
Bear McCreary
Bear McCreary will join Oxonmoot for an exclusive chat on Friday, September 1st at 4:40pm UK-time (8:40am PDT / 11:40am EDT / 5:40pm CET), and the session will be available live to online attendees.
McCreary, a lifelong Tolkien fan, composed the 37 tracks that make up the score for Prime’s Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power. His work for the show received acclaim from fans and critics alike. The gorgeous themes he developed for the show were completely new yet still reflective of the scores that Howard Shore composed for Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings. McCreary is also know for his work on Battlestar Galactica, The Walking Dead, and Outlander, among other television series. McCreary is articulate in speaking about his methodology, and he is just plain fun in an interview.
Brian Sibley
Brian Sibley will also be a guest at Oxonmoot. His session is called “‘The Fall of Númenor’: An Editor’s Journey.” As the name of the event implies, Mr. Sibley edited the volume of J.R.R. Tolkien’s writings titled The Fall of Númenor: And Other Tales from the Second Age of Middle-earth, which was illustrated by Alan Lee. Sibley will speak about the “pleasures and pitfalls” in editing the book.
Sibley has written extensively for radio dramas such as BBC Radio 4’s adaptation of Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings and C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia. He is well known for authoring many “making of” books about films, including those for The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, as well as the Harry Potter series. He is incredibly knowledgeable about Tolkien and fascinating to listen to.
The 2023 Australian Production Design Guild (APDG) announced their award nominees today. The awards will be handed out on August 26 in Melbourne, Australia.
The awards recognise outstanding achievements and excellence in design for works that have been broadcast, screened or performed annually and celebrate the wonderful work of the Australian production design community.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power received 1 nomination:
Production Art Department Concept Art Award
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power: “Udûn” Jason Smith, Ron Ames, Nigel Sumner, Tom Proctor, Dean Clarke
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (Season 1) Daniel J Burns – Concept Artist Jonathan Lee – Production Designer
Three Thousand Years of Longing Annet Mackie – Concept Artist
Last February, Bear McCreary was nominated and won several awards for his Rings of Power score from the International Film Music Critics Association. McCreary won for Composer of the Year, and Best Original Score for Television. He also won Score of the Year, over fellow nominees John Williams and Michael Giacchino. It was the first and only TV score to not only be nominated, but to win over the nominated film scores in this category.
Next up, the 75th Primetime Emmy Award nominations will be announced on July 12. Prime Video has been campaigning hard for Rings of Power, which is likely to receive recognition in various craft and music categories.
On April 1, 2023, Twitter is sunsetting Verified blue checkmarks from the previous 15 years. Many actors, writers and production people were verified to prevent spoofing and shenanigans, so fans could be safe and secure knowing they are following the real person and not a fake or bot. Since most are expected not to pay for a bluecheck going forward, here’s a handy list of all (we believe!) the official Twitter accounts of people involved with The Lord of the Rings:
LOTR fans started to embrace twitter as a community platform during The Hobbit years, ultimately helping #VoteBilbo win an MTV Movie Award. Twitter became the default social network for many fans over the years, including the most recent focus on (and disagreements over) The Rings of Power. Billionaire Elon Musk bought the website in 2022 and spent the first 6 months downsizing the company and free features, making blue-check verification pay-to-play instead of on merit. Many celebrities deal with imposters on social media, tricking fans into giving money to fake accounts. It is generally expected that with the removal of “fame” verification, there will be more copycat accounts showing up. As Gandalf would tell us, ‘Be on your guard!’
Hey y’all , I’ll loose the blue tick on Saturday I’m opposed to spending money on social media . I’ll go checkless . Please be careful of Imposters & money soliciting scams . I will never ask you for money on any social media platform . Cheers ✌🏽K
If we missed anyone, let us know in Discord and this post will be updated with the official accounts of our favorite LOTR people.
Update 21/04/2023: It appears that Nazanin Boniadi no longer has a presence on twitter. The best way to find Boniadi’s official online presence is probably via https://nazaninboniadi.com/. Thanks to Mirthfather on our Discord for the heads-up.
The International Film Music Critics Association has announced their nominations today. Bear McCreary leads all nominees with 8 nominations, including his score for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power which is the first TV score ever nominated for Score of the Year. High praise for McCreary’s work on Rings of Power from their members was included in their press release:
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power received nominations for Score of the Year – the first television score nominated in that category in IFMCA history since the rule change to allow TV scores to be included was announced in 2022 – plus Best Television score, and for three different tracks in the Composition of the Year category, while McCreary himself was nominated for Composer of the Year.
IFMCA member James Southall called The Rings of Power “a real triumph, undoubtedly McCreary’s own career-defining moment,” and IFMCA member Conrado Xalabarder said that the score was “one of the best in the history of music for television series … a work made from intelligence, commitment and above all respect for Tolkien and the audience. All its central themes work impeccably, coherently, and they develop and interact with each other, creating first-rate narration and dramaturgy.” IFMCA member Jon Broxton similarly praised the score, saying “the level of research and intelligent design McCreary has done in terms of creating the musical structure of The Rings of Power is absolutely astonishing, and is probably unparalleled in the history of television music.”
The nominees are:
SCORE OF THE YEAR
AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER, music by Simon Franglen THE BATMAN, music by Michael Giacchino THE FABELMANS, music by John Williams THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RINGS OF POWER, music by Bear McCreary, theme by Howard Shore NOPE, music by Michael Abels
COMPOSER OF THE YEAR
ALEXANDRE DESPLAT SIMON FRANGLEN MICHAEL GIACCHINO BEAR MCCREARY DANIEL PEMBERTON
COMPOSITION OF THE YEAR*
“Galadriel” from THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RINGS OF POWER, music by Bear McCreary “Leaving Home (Hometree)” from AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER, music by Simon Franglen “Mother and Son” from THE FABELMANS, music by John Williams “Númenor” from THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RINGS OF POWER, music by Bear McCreary “Sailing Into the Dawn” from THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RINGS OF POWER, music by Bear McCreary “The Batman” from THE BATMAN, music by Michael Giacchino
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR TELEVISION
THE ENGLISH, music by Federico Jusid INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE, music by Daniel Hart THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RINGS OF POWER, music by Bear McCreary, theme by Howard Shore MOON KNIGHT, music by Hesham Nazih THE ORVILLE, music by John Debney, Joel McNeely, Andrew Cottee, and Kevin Kaska, theme by Bruce Broughton
McCreary also received nominations for Best Original Score for an Animated Film for Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank and Best Original Score for a Video Game or Interactive Media for God of War: Ragnarök. Congratulations to Bear McCreary on his nominations!
The Society of Composers & Lyricists announced their nominees today and The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power received recognition. Congratulations to Bear McCreary for his nomination in Outstanding Score for Television for his exceptional work on The Rings of Power. The SCL Awards ceremony is being held on February 15, 2023.
Full list of nominees in the category are:
Outstanding Score For Television Nicholas Britell – Andor Siddhartha Khosla – Only Murders In The Building Bear McCreary – The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power Theodore Shapiro – Severance Cristobal Tapia De Veer – The White Lotus
