CHICAGO, Aug. 18 /PRNewswire/ — Fans of the music of Academy Award-winning Howard Shore will have two opportunities to interact with the composer during the Chicago performances of “The Lord of the Rings Symphony: A Symphony in Six Movements” on October 8 and 9 at the Auditorium Theatre. Mr. Shore will host a 45-minute question & answer session prior to each performance from the Auditorium Theatre Stage; the Q&A sessions are only open to patrons holding tickets for those respective nights. Mr. Shore will also host a 90-minute post-show dessert and champagne reception each night immediately following the show. The reception tickets, which are $75.00, are limited to 100 patrons per night and may be purchased by calling (312) 951-0080.

The performances each night begin at 8:00 p.m. Fans wishing to interact with Mr. Shore at the Q&A session may arrive at the Auditorium Theatre at 6:00 p.m.; seating will be general admission. Mr. Shore and Doug Adams, author of the upcoming book The Music of the Lord of the Rings, will take questions from the stage beginning at approximately 6:30pm. Upon conclusion of the Q&A session at 7:15 p.m., patrons will be reseated in their ticketed seat.

The post-show reception will be in the Auditorium Theatre’s 2nd-floor dress circle lobby. Mr. Shore will sign autographs, pose for pictures, and otherwise mingle and interact with attendees. Dessert from Eli’s Cheesecake and champagne are complimentary. Other cocktails and soft drinks are available via a cash bar.

“The Lord of the Rings Symphony: A Symphony in Six Movements” features more than 200 musicians and singers performing music from all three films in the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy. The presentation will also feature original concept and storyboard artwork from the films by artists Alan Lee and John Howe. Projected images will chronologically align with the music as the story of the hobbits’ journey unfolds. Tickets, which range from $35.00 to $80.00, are on sale now, and may be purchased at the Auditorium Theatre box office, all Ticketmaster outlets, ticketmaster.com, or by calling (312) 902-1500.

“The Lord of the Rings Symphony: A Symphony in Six Movements” is presented by Jam Theatricals.

For film editor and Oscar-winner Jamie Selkirk, the peach carpet of Government House was “a bit more nerve-wracking” than the red carpet of Hollywood. Mr Selkirk was honoured at an investiture ceremony at Wellington’s Government House yesterday as a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit. [More]

Folks from The Fellowship Festival write: For the Londoners amongst you, go and buy today’s copy of Evening Standard, London’s biggest newspaper and you can win the chance to enter a competition to be transformed into an Orc by Gino Acevedo from Weta Workshop at the forthcoming Fellowship Festival (28th – 30th August 2004, Alexandra Palace). Gino will be transforming three lucky readers, one for every day of the show into a gruesome Orc as part of his live make-up demonstration. For details on how to enter this once in a lifetime competition, go and buy The Evening Standard.

universalmusicstore.com is auctioning off some interesting items for ‘Songs of Hope’. CanadianCricket writes: As of this time bids for this Return of the King/Into the West sheet music signed by Annie Lennox are only at $51! I have to believe that with a little help from exposure on TORN’s main page that much much more could be raised for this worthy cause! [More]

And while we are on the topic of John Howe and Alan Lee: Ringer Spy Elderhobbit chimed in with the following: John Howe and Alan Lee have been nominated For a World Fantasy Award in professional category for the art work they did for Lord of the Rings. World Fantasy is an international and annual conference of fantasy authors agents and publishers. This year’s World Fantasy Conference is in Tempe Arizona at the end of October with the World Fantasy Awards to be announced on October 31st. [More]