Academy Award and three-time Emmy winning composer and conductor Bill Conti made his way back to Baton Rouge on Tuesday to conduct the LSU Symphony Orchestra in an entrancing concert packed with movie magic.
The concert, named “An Evening At The Movies,” was kicked off by “The Final Bell” from “Rocky” playing as Conti walked onto the stage greeted by a roaring crowd of students, alumni and fans.
The concert featured musical scores from Conti’s work in “The Karate Kid” and also from other movies like “Star Wars.” “The Salute to the Cinema” and “Salute to Comedy” sections of the program were filled with everyone’s favorite pieces from popular films that are unmissable even to the untrained ear.
“You don’t think of music. You feel it,” Conti said to the crowd.
Conti is a graduate of the LSU School of Music, where he received a bassoon scholarship and majored in composition. During his time at the University, he played the jazz piano in local nightspots to finance his education. Conti also recalled that he wrote the famous score “The Final Bell” from “Rocky” as an assignment in 1961 at the University.
Conti is best known for writing the Oscar-winning film score for the 1976 hit film “Rocky,” including the song “Gonna Fly Now.” He then went on to write the film scores for the four sequels of “Rocky,” “The Karate Kid,” “For Your Eyes Only,” “Dynasty” and “The Right Stuff.” Conti’s compositions have led to over eight million album sales, making him one of Hollywood’s most sought-after composers and conductors in both film and television.
“I think there may be, like, four ‘Karate Kids.’ I don’t know. It’s hard to keep track,” Conti said humorously when introducing the “Love Theme” from “The Karate Kid” to the audience.
Conti frequently paused in between pieces and addressed the audience with insights about his life with humorous jokes that ignited laughter in the crowd. He surely did not struggle to put a smile on everyone’s faces.
The highlight of the concert was Conti’s famous pieces from “Rocky.”
“My career began at the end of that movie,” Conti said “I have five grandchildren, and I hope this continues to pay for their education.”
During the concert, the College of Music and Dramatic Arts Dean Todd Queen announced the college is finalizing a donation of nearly 80 of Conti’s scores.
“I’ve taken so much away from here [the University], mostly emotional,” Conti said in response to the announcement. “The most important parts of my life began here. It’s only right that you all can have what I left.”
“These scores have his handwritten notes, students can see them and see what he was thinking, like why he paused or why he didn’t,” Queen said. “It will be a magnificent asset to our students.”
The donation is expected to be finalized in 2020; the scores will be archived in Hill Memorial Library. Queen said Hill Memorial librarians will work on digitizing the scores, so they will be even more accessible to students.
