Hear Your Favorite Film Music at Grand Rapids Symphony's HOLLYWOOD HITS

Stop and think about one of favorite movies - the story, characters, the settings. It won't be long before you start humming a few bars from the musical score.

In fact, you may have thought of the main theme before anything. That's the power of music in movies.

Grand Rapids Pops says a big "Hooray for Hollywood" with Hollywood Hits with music from blockbuster films as Gone with the Wind, Ben Hur, Dr. Zhivago, The Way We Were and Rocky on Friday Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 17-19, in DeVos Performance Hall.

Principal Pops Conductor Bob Bernhardt leads the concerts at 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and at 3 p.m. on Sunday. Please note that 7:30 p.m. is a new start time this season for concerts on Fridays and Saturdays in the Fox Motors Pops series.

Visual images including movie stills and brief film clips will be part of the show. Concert Sponsor is Peter C and Emajean Cook Foundation, and the Guest Artist Sponsor is Holland Home.

Music in moves does a number of things. In such classic westerns as the 1960 film The Magnificent Seven, it establishes a time, a place and a setting. With the main theme from the 1985 film Out of Africa starring Meryl Streep, John Barry's score creates the atmosphere of the vast African landscape.

A song such as Henry Mancini's "Moon River" illustrates the carefree life of Holly Golightly in the 1961 film Breakfast at Tiffany's. John Williams' main theme from the 1981 film Raiders of the Lost Ark promises the move to come will take viewers on a grand, epic adventure.

Mancini's playful yet mysterious theme from the 1963 film The Pink Panther sets the scene for a "whodunit" but promises you'll have a few laughs along the way.

Music composed by Michael Giacchino for the 2013 film Star Trek: Into Darkness let you know you're going where no man has gone before. And so on and so on.

Music from all of the films above, plus the "Colonel Bogey March" from the 1958 film Bridge on the River Kwai, the "Superman March" from the 1978 move Superman, and the main theme Peter Gun, which aired on TV from 1958 to 1961, are part of the show.

Bernhardt, who composer John Williams first engaged to guest conduct the famous Boston Pops when Williams served as its Music Director, will lead the Grand Rapids Symphony in music from such classic films as Laura, Lawrence of Arabia,, How the West was Won and Dances with Wolves, films that span more than 50 years of movie making from the 1940s to the 1990s.

Tickets for Hollywood Hits start at $18 adults, $5 children, available by calling the GRS ticket office at (616) 454-9451 ext. 4. Phone orders will be charged a $3 per ticket handling fee ($18 maximum per order). There are no fees for tickets purchased in person at the GRS ticket office at 300 Ottawa Ave. NW, Suite 100, (located across the street from Calder Plaza). Ticket office hours are 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Tickets are available at the DeVos Place box office, weekdays 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. or on the day of the concert beginning two hours prior to the performance. Tickets may be purchased online at GRSymphony.org.

Full-time students of any age can purchase tickets for $5 on day of the concert by enrolling in the GRS Student Tickets program, sponsored by Calvin College. Discounts also are available to members of MySymphony360, the Grand Rapids Symphony's organization for young professionals ages 21-35.

Students age 7-18 also are able to attend for free when accompanied by an adult. Free for Kids tickets must be purchased in advance at the GRS Ticket office. Up to two free tickets are available with the purchase of a regular-price adult ticket. Go online for more details.

Symphony Scorecard provides up to four free tickets for members of the community receiving financial assistance from the State of Michigan and for members of the U.S. Armed Forces, whether on active or reserve duty or serving in the National Guard. Go online for information to sign up with a Symphony Scorecard Partner Agency.