Though he was renowned as a groundbreaking British comedian and achieved Hollywood stardom thanks to his roles in 10 and Arthur, Dudley Moore took the most pride in his accomplishments as a musician and composer. A choirboy at age six and the organist at church weddings by 14, as a child Moore found refuge in music from the hospital stays and taunting from other children he endured because of his club foot. Eventually, he won a scholarship to Magdalen College at Oxford to study the organ, but he left the school to play jazz piano with Johnny Dankford and tour the U.S. with Vic Lewis. When he returned to Oxford, he met comedian Peter Cook and joined the satirical sketch comedy revue Beyond the Fringe, where his over-the-top piano solos earned him his first widespread success. Moore's witty, whimsical musical and comedic stylings complemented Cook's more acerbic sense of humor perfectly, and throughout the '60s and '70s the pair continued to mix humor and music in projects like the BBC show Not Only But Also and their foul-mouthed alter-egos Derek and Clive. Moore and Cook also made several films together, and Moore composed the music for movies including 30 Is a Dangerous Age, Cynthia and the classic Bedazzled. During the '70s and '80s, Moore found the time to release several albums' worth of piano-based jazz, including Dudley Moore at the Waredon Festival and Come Again, in between his film, television, and stage work. Both his comedy and music careers waned in the '90s due to health problems, which included several minor heart attacks and open heart surgery. Most damagingly to Moore as a musician, in 1999 he was diagnosed with progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), a rare, incurable brain disorder that includes imbalance, stiffness, blurred vision, difficulty speaking, and slowed movements among its symptoms. Moore devoted his time to raising awareness of the disease as well as funds to research it, forming the Dudley Moore Research Fund for Progressive Supranuclear Palsy; he released Live From an Aircraft Hangar, a collection of his previously recorded concerts, and held a gala concert at Carnegie Hall on his 66th birthday to raise funds for PSP research. ~ Heather Phares

For year after year, decade after decade, the Boston Pops were one of the most popular orchestras in America. Through concerts, tours, and an endless series of record albums, they brought classical music, marches, and contemporary pop to millions of listeners. Over the course of the 20th century, the orchestra was recorded more than any other. They developed a repertoire that functioned as the de facto American classical and pop lexicon. The Boston Pops were populists, emphasizing melody and texture instead of somber, challenging classical pieces. This direction was devised by Henry Lee Higginson, who formed the prototype of the Pops in 1885. The orchestra remained a popular local attraction for the first three decades of the 1900s, but it became nationally famous when Arthur Fiedler was appointed as conductor in 1930. Over the next five decades, he perfected a friendly, accessible sound that emphasized familiar classical pieces with popular tunes, marches, and excerpts from film and Broadway scores. By the time John Williams took over for Fiedler in 1980, the Boston Pops were internationally known, but Williams took great steps to ensure that the outfit remain contemporary, frequently adding new pieces to their repertoire. Williams stayed with the outfit until 1995, when he passed the mantle on to Keith Lockhart. In all three incarnations, the basic sound of the Boston Pops remained unchanged, and the orchestra retained its popularity throughout shifting musical tastes.

The formula for the Boston Pops was unwittingly devised by Henry Lee Higginson, the founder of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. On July 11, 1885, Higginson gave the first Music Hall Promenade Concert, where the program consisted of "light music of the best class." He had based the program on garden concerts he attended as a student in Vienna, but it also borrowed heavily from the Promenade Concerts Benjamin Bilse conducted in Berlin, copying the style of opening with a light piece, moving to the heaviest composition on the program, and then concluding with another light number. It also had a medley of familiar numbers Bilse performed. Both the medleys and style of the program would provide the template for the Boston Pops. Higginson led the Boston Symphony Orchestra throughout the late 1800s and early 1900s. At first, his programs relied heavily on European classical pieces, but as more American composers emerged, he incorporated them into his sets, thereby giving such writers as John Philip Sousa and Victor Herbert invaluable exposure. In 1900, the Promenade Orchestra became a separate entity from the Boston Symphony Orchestra. It was now known as the Boston Pops.

Higginson passed the leadership of the Pops to Adolf Neuendorff, a member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra who followed his predecessor's formula. He was the first in a line of conductors of European descent that dominated the Boston Pops during the early 1900s. Neuendorff didn't stay with the Boston Pops long, and he was succeeded by a number of similarly minded conductors, often promoted from the ranks of the Symphony Orchestra, including Timothee Adamowski, Max Zach, Gustav Strube, and Agide Jacchia. In 1927, an Italian composer and pianist named Alfred Casella was brought in to conduct and direct the Boston Pops. Although his tenure was brief, lasting only two years, it was influential, because it illustrated what the Boston Pops could not do. Casella decided that it was his duty to treat the Boston Pops like a conventional symphonic orchestra, having them perform full symphonies and pieces from contemporary avant-garde composers. Accustomed to "light classics," the audiences complained incessantly. Faced with public dissatisfaction, the Boston Symphony Orchestra decided to let Casella's contract expire in 1929 and hire Arthur Fiedler, a 35-year-old violist from the BSO. Fiedler had previously applied for the conductor position once Jacchia resigned, but the job went to Casella instead. As Casella led the Pops, Fiedler formed a chamber orchestra named the Fiedler Sinfonietta, which performed a series of concerts called the Esplanade Concerts. Once the Pops hired Fiedler, the Esplanade Concerts were folded into the BSO and eventually became a respected, popular Boston tradition.

Fiedler began his tenure as Pops conductor in 1930. As the first American-born conductor to lead the Pops, Fiedler developed a unique repertoire that came to define the Boston Pops. His Pops performed a wildly diverse variety of music, playing both traditional and contemporary classical music, jazz, opera, film and Broadway scores, and contemporary pop hits. He wasn't shy about incorporating new music into the orchestra's program -- his first concert featured "Strike Up the Band" and Ravel's Bolero, which was no more than a year old at the time -- and he was determined in expanding the Pops' repertoire far beyond light European classical music. Fiedler was also prescient about recordings, knowing that they were vital to the success of not only the Boston Pops, but classical music in general. In July 1935, he recorded 40 compositions for RCA Victor, including Jacob Gade's recent "Jalousie." When it was released as a single, "Jalousie" sold over a million copies, becoming the first major hit orchestral record, as well as the first RCA Victor single to sell a million copies. (The name the Boston Pops Orchestra wasn't official until these RCA recordings, since the label needed a sharp, catchy name to put on the records.)

The recordings, in addition to constant touring, established the Boston Pops as national phenomenons, but instead of resting on his laurels, Fiedler continued to push the orchestra forward, showcasing new (usually American) composers and soloists. He also skillfully promoted his orchestra through recordings and media. In 1952, the Boston Pops began broadcasting locally. Ten years later, their radio broadcasts were syndicated nationally and remained on the air until 1992. In 1969, he arranged for Boston Pops concerts to be broadcast on American Public Television as Evening at Pops. These televised concerts brought the Pops to a huge audience, not only in America but throughout the world. During the '70s, the Boston Pops were inarguably the most popular orchestra in the world, and their success culminated with a spectacular Fourth of July concert on the American Bicentennial in 1976.

Through a combination of talent, innovation, and savvy, Fiedler established the Boston Pops as the world's pre-eminent orchestra, and he stayed with the ensemble until his death on July 10, 1979. He left behind a legacy that was seemingly impossible to fill, and for a while, it looked like the Boston Symphony Orchestra had no idea who could replace him. Harry Ellis Dickson, the associate conductor, finished the 1979 concerts, along with a series of guest conductors. Finally, in January 1980, John Williams was named conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra. Williams was best-known for his scores for such hit films as Jaws and Star Wars, yet his musical background was vast and deep. A classically trained musician, he had also worked as a jazz pianist and a pop arranger. Prior to the Pops, he had little experience as a conductor, but he had the skill and taste to succeed, as well as the fame to bring new audiences to the Pops.

During his tenure with the Boston Pops, Williams continued to write film scores -- including those for Raiders of the Lost Ark and E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial -- but he devoted himself to his orchestra. He made sure the group's repertoire didn't become static by adding new pieces to their canon (including some specially commissioned pieces) and having the orchestra perform symphonic arrangements of film scores. He continued the radio and television broadcasts of the Pops, and he toured the orchestra consistently. Williams also made sure the Boston Pops kept recording, releasing popular albums on the Philips and Sony Classical labels.

On Christmas 1991, John Williams announced he was retiring as conductor at the conclusion of the 1993 season. At the end of the season, he would be given the title Laureate Conductor and serve as Music Adviser. By the time Williams left in 1993, the BSO had found his replacement -- the 35-year-old Keith Lockhart, who had previously served as the conductor of the Pittsburgh Civic Orchestra. During his first few years conducting the Pops, Lockhart continued the orchestra's frenetic pace, performing hundreds of concerts, recording several records for RCA Victor, and appearing on television programs for both PBS and A&E. Lockhart proved to be a worthy successor to Williams, as the Boston Pops posted record attendance levels during his first season as conductor. The Pops maintained their phenomenal popularity into the next century, with recordings like 1998's The Celtic Album and 2000's The Latin Album continuing to reflect changes in mainstream listening tastes. In 2005, they reached number 13 on the Billboard Classical Albums chart with America, a collection of patriotic and traditional American folk tunes. Other recording highlights under Lockhart included the baseball-themed The Red Sox Album from 2009, A Boston Pops Christmas: Live from Symphony Hall (recorded live at concerts in 2011 and 2012 and released in 2013), and 2017’s Lights! Camera...Music! Six Decades of John Williams. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

One of the pillars of film scoring and the most popular film composer of his era, John Williams has created music for some of the most successful motion pictures in Hollywood history -- Star Wars, E.T. the Extra Terrestrial, Jurassic Park, and Harry Potter are just a handful of selections from an extensive catalog that has included over 50 Academy Awards nominations. After getting his start in television in the late '50s, Williams worked more steadily on feature films by the early '70s, impressing with his stirring orchestral scores for blockbuster disaster films like The Poseidon Adventure (1972), Earthquake (1974), and The Towering Inferno (1974), as well as through his work with such emerging directors as Robert Altman (1973's The Long Goodbye) and Steven Spielberg (1974's The Sugarland Express). His recurring partnership with Spielberg would span six decades. Williams' ominous, encroaching "Shark Theme" for Spielberg's Jaws in 1975 and his five-note spacecraft melody from 1977's Close Encounters of the Third Kind (penned with Spielberg's note that it should convey "hello" in mind) would have likely cemented his stature as the go-to Hollywood composer for sci-fi-adventure-thriller fare even without the colossal success of 1977's Star Wars, his most iconic score. His instrumental themes from Jaws, Close Encounters, and Star Wars all charted on the Billboard Hot 100, with Star Wars' cracking the Top Ten. Over time, he was recognized for his prowess with more poignant material as well, such as Best Song Oscar nominee "Somewhere in My Memory" from Home Alone and his mournful violin theme (performed by Itzhak Perlman) from his Oscar-winning score for Schindler's List (1993). However, he has remained associated across generations for his lush, exciting, romantic music for other worlds, including the first two Jurassic Park films in the '90s, the first three Harry Potter films in the 2000s, and the episodic Star Wars prequels and sequels. In the early 2020s, as he entered his nineties, Williams set to work on his fifth straight entry in the Indiana Jones film franchise. While not quite as prolific in the concert hall realm, he has composed concertos for no fewer than ten different instruments, among dozens of other orchestral and chamber works.

Born February 8, 1932, in Floral Park, New York, Williams was the son of a movie studio musician, and he followed in his father's footsteps by studying music at UCLA and Juilliard. Initially, he pursued a career as a jazz pianist, later working with Henry Mancini to compose the score for the hit television series Peter Gunn. Williams then went solo to pen a number of TV soundtracks for series including Playhouse 90, Wagon Train, and Bachelor Father. In 1959, he ventured into film with Daddy-O, and spent the majority of the 1960s alternating between the silver screen (The Killers, The Plainsman) and its smaller counterpart (Gilligan's Island, Lost in Space, Kraft Suspense Theatre).

In 1968, Williams earned his first Academy Award nomination for his work on Valley of the Dolls. In 1970, he garnered nods for both The Reivers and Goodbye, Mr. Chips, and two years later finally won for Fiddler on the Roof. A slew of Oscar nominations followed, for features including The Poseidon Adventure, Tom Sawyer, and The Towering Inferno. By 1974, he had received his first nomination for best original song, for Cinderella Liberty's "Nice to Be Around," a collaboration with Paul Williams (lyrics).

Over much of his career, two major relationships helped secure Williams' iconic legacy in film and music. In 1974, he teamed with a young filmmaker named Steven Spielberg for the first time on a crime drama titled The Sugarland Express. Over the coming decades, the two frequently re-teamed, often with stunning results, including 1975's Jaws and 1977's Close Encounters of the Third Kind. His thrilling score for Jaws won an Oscar for original score; Close Encounters was nominated. Williams' other frequent collaborator was George Lucas, beginning with 1977's Star Wars -- another best score Oscar winner. Star Wars' rousing, orchestral opening theme even went to number ten on the Billboard singles chart. He and Lucas soon reunited for 1980's The Empire Strikes Back, the same year Williams took over for the late Arthur Fiedler as the conductor of the Boston Pops.

Back with Spielberg, Williams delivered more of his memorably triumphant melodies for 1981's Raiders of the Lost Ark and the next year's E.T. His soaring music for the latter resulted his fourth Academy Award trophy. He was back atop the box office rankings with 1983's Return of the Jedi, the third Star Wars feature. In the meantime, he composed for other filmmakers, turning out scores for films like 1978's Superman and 1983's Yes, Giorgio, which included another Oscar-nominated song ("If We Were in Love"). Among his vast output later in the '80s were contrasting Oscar-nominated scores for Spielberg: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), the World War II drama Empire of the Sun (1987), and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989).

The '90s saw Williams work on franchises old and new, beginning with the inaugural Home Alone family comedy in 1990. It resulted in nominations for both score and song ("Somewhere in My Memory, with lyricist Leslie Bricusse). Following a score nomination for Oliver Stone's JFK and a song nod (again with Bricusse) for "When You're Alone" from Spielberg's Hook, he won an Oscar for his next Spielberg collaboration, 1993's Schindler's List, whose haunting theme was performed by violinist Itzhak Perlman. That year also saw the first Jurassic Park film hit theaters featuring a ubiquitous Williams score, as he passed the Boston Pops baton to Keith Lockhart following a 13-year stay. The composer agreed to score George Lucas' Star Wars prequel trilogy as they went into production just before the release of his Oscar-nominated scores for the Spielberg historical dramas Amistad (1997) and Saving Private Ryan (1998). Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace broke the single-day box office record on its opening day in May of 1999.

Williams began work on yet another blockbuster franchise in 2001 with the release of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (aka Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone). Mixing winding, aerial melodies with a darkly majestic palette, Williams' initial contribution to that magical universe was nominated for best original score. He followed that with a string of consecutive hits: Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002), Spielberg's Minority Report (2002), Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002), Spielberg's Catch Me If You Can (2002), and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2003). The composer of multiple Olympic themes, he received the Olympic Order award from the International Olympic Committee in 2003. Films including Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and Spielberg's War of the Worlds and Munich followed in 2005, with Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull arriving before the end of the decade. Williams was awarded the National Medal of Arts at the White House in 2009.

Regular appearances on the Oscar nominee list continued in the 2010s, with Spielberg's The Adventures of Tintin (2011), War Horse (2012), and Lincoln (2013) among them. He received three more Oscar nominations for the Star Wars sequel trilogy, beginning with 2015's The Force Awakens. In 2016, Williams became the first composer to receive the American Film Institute's Life Achievement Award. He finished the decade with movies including the Spielberg projects The BFG (2016) and The Post (2017). In 2017, their partnership was anthologized with John Williams & Steven Spielberg: The Ultimate Collection. Two years later, he also collaborated with celebrated violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter on the album Across the Stars, which featured Mutter playing a selection of Williams' film themes; the composer both arranged the music and conducted the Recording Arts Orchestra of Los Angeles for the Deutsche Grammophon release. The ninth episode of the Star Wars saga, The Rise of Skywalker, saw release in 2019. 2022's A Gathering of Friends saw Williams working with cellist Yo-Yo Ma on a set of two concert works, as well as selections from his scores for Schindler’s List, Lincoln, and Munich.

During their first 50 years of working together, John Williams scored all but five of Steven Spielberg's films (1983's Twilight Zone: The Movie, 1985's The Color Purple, 2015's Bridge of Spies, 2018's Ready Player One, and 2021's West Side Story). In 2023, Williams returned to the Indiana Jones film series with his score for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. ~ Marcy Donelson & Jason Ankeny