Pacific Symphony features orchestral sounds for fans of ‘Star Wars,’ ABBA and more
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“Star Wars” fans can experience the epic sounds of the film franchise in their full orchestral glory at this year’s Pacific Symphony SummerFest at Great Park Live in Irvine.
“The music is so iconic that it kind of transports you back to all the visual imagery that came with the films without actually having to look at anything,” said Pacific Symphony Principal Pops Conductor Enrico Lopez-Yañez, who is conducting “The Music of Star Wars.”
“It’s such a wonderful experience as an audience member to get to see and witness the power of the music as it stands alone. … John Williams, when he composed all of these big soundtracks, he wrote it of course for film, but with the intention of it being played by a symphony orchestra, which is best heard live,” Lopez-Yañez added.
Now in its third season, SummerFest’s 2026 lineup includes soft rock duo Air Supply joining Pacific Symphony’s “July 4th Spectacular: America 250,” followed by “The Music of Star Wars” on July 25, “Back to the Future” on Aug. 1, “The Music of ABBA: Arrival from Sweden” on Aug. 22 and the “Tchaikovsky Spectacular” on Sept. 5. All performances start at 8 p.m.
“The Music of Star Wars” concert will showcase 15 to 20 selections from different films and favorite moments from the series, according to Lopez-Yañez. That includes the main title song and “Duel of the Fates,” “The Imperial March” and “Luke and Leia” theme, along with music from “Rogue One,” “Solo” and “The Mandalorian” series.
“The music of John Williams is some of the most virtuosic and high level music out there,” Lopez-Yañez said. “He writes these incredibly difficult and beautiful pieces for the orchestra. When they’re recorded in studio, of course the musicians get several days and multiple takes … to record these scores. But in a live situation, you don’t.”
By contrast, SummerFest players rehearse the scores one time before performing the music on stage for an entire concert of nonstop music, a process that calls on the orchestra to play with a very high degree of professionalism.
“What’s really special, though, about the Pacific Symphony, of course our proximity to L.A. and the nature of our musicians means that a lot of our players are actually people who recorded on John Williams’ original soundtracks,” Lopez-Yañez said.
“We have tons of players who were there in the studios recording these films. And so this is essentially one of the closest and most authentic ways you can hear his music with actual players who were on the scoring stage when it was being written and recorded for the first time.”
Besides deep diving into “Star Wars” on Aug. 5, SummerFest opens on Independence Day with the “July 4th Spectacular: America 250” headlined by Air Supply, celebrating the country’s semiquincentennial during the duo’s “A Matter of Time” tour. Guests can expect plenty of patriotic favorites and timeless love songs before the night ends with a fireworks finale.
ABBA fans won’t want to miss popular tribute band, Arrival from Sweden, joining the orchestra with costuming and energy on Aug. 22 to perform hits like “Mamma Mia” and “Dancing Queen” in a very electric-pop experience. Meanwhile, the “Tchaikovsky Spectacular” features violinist Randall Goosby and opens with the composer’s “Violin Concerto,” ending with the drama of the “1812 Overture,” played against a backdrop of fireworks.
Another big film experience at the festival is “Back to the Future,” which includes the full-length film projected on a giant high-definition screen while Pacific Symphony performs Alan Silvestri’s score live and synchronized with the movie.
A special element being added to the performance, which will be led by Guest Conductor Scott Terrell, is a selection of brand-new music written by Silvestri specifically for the live orchestra presentation.
Terrell said he conducted “Back to the Future” music last year for the first time.
“It’s Alan Silvestri, who’s certainly written a number of film scores. He uses kind of a motive throughout the movie — I often call it the time-travel motive,” Terrell said. “He uses it and sort of manipulates it musically to fit various guises as needed through the movie … fast, slow, loud, soft, in action scenes or as other emotional scenes.
“It’s really incumbent upon us to be very much coordinated with the movie. So that’s a little bit challenging, but on the whole, it’s a really well written score that works quite well with the movie. I think it’ll go really well, particularly for an orchestra as great as Pacific [Symphony].”
The third annual Pacific Symphony SummerFest at Great Park Live in Irvine begins July 4 and concludes Sept. 5. For tickets, visit pacificsymphony.org.
