Tim Greiving‘s John Williams – A Composer’s Life, the first major biography on the esteemed American composer and conductor, was released in September by Oxford University Press and has quickly become a reference point for the ongoing studies of Williams’ opus.

Now that the book is out and many fans read it, Tim Greiving returns on The Legacy of John Williams podcast to offer more reflections on his “adventure on Earth,” meeting his idol and spending time with him to tell the incredible story of his life. Joining Tim are two luminaries who also wrote seminal books and papers on the subject of film music and also very welcome returning guests on the show: film music theorist Frank Lehman (author of Hollywood Harmony and the upcoming The Skywalker Symphonies: Musical Storytelling in Star Wars) and writer Doug Adams (author of The Music of The Lord of the Rings Films). In this conversation, the trio of writers engage in a lively talk, commenting on how John Williams’ life story seeped into his own music for both film and concert hall, what it means to meet your heroes and engage with them in conversation and the challenge of writing a biography of a composer who is still contributing new music as we speak.

For more information and the list of musical excerpts, visit https://thelegacyofjohnwilliams.com/2025/11/17/legacy-roundtable-jw-biography/

The landscape of contemporary film music is certainly eclectic and varied, but it feels a lot emptier than in the past if one craves for the classic storytelling-like, leitmotivic-based, orchestral film scores that accompanied many of the great movies of the past... But it's not time to lose hope yet, thanks to the talent of a very young composer who is becoming the "talk of the town" among film music aficionados and has put his name on the map as one of the most promising emerging talents in Hollywood: composer Cameron Moody.

Cameron Moody is an American composer, conductor, and trumpeter based in Los Angeles, CA. His distinctive utilization of the symphony orchestra has given way to a varied resume, with project genres in film and television ranging from action and documentaries to romance and comedies. He recently composed the score for the Hulu original limited series Washington Black, an epic tale of courage, adventure and freedom accompanied by an ambitious symphonic score in the style of John Williams, who is one of Cameron's role models and whose music inspired him to become a film composer.

Cameron was also a frequent collaborator of Emmy-nominated and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Michael Abels, composing additional music on scores such as Disney’s Star Wars: The Acolyte—for which he also served as a conductor.

In this conversation, Cameron sits down with The Legacy of John Williams to talk about his deep love for the music of the Maestro, reminiscing how crucial it was for his upbringing as a child and how it shaped his dreams to become a fully fledged film composer. He also talks about his incredible journey that brought him to Hollywood, the joys and the challenges of writing new Star Wars music and his expansive work for the limited series Washington Black.

For more information: https://thelegacyofjohnwilliams.com/2025/10/31/cameron-moody-podcast

Washington Black music featurette: https://youtu.be/ySWqCtiqX3w?si=tGvsOPZTRhd6v77H

Among the many recordings that celebrated the music of John Williams over the last few years, one in particular has been perhaps the most surprising and unexpected: conceived and produced by Robert Townson, John Williams Reimagined is a sprawling collection of the Maestro's music transcribed for the unusual chamber trio of flute, cello and piano, performed by three world-class soloists: flutist Sara Andon, cellist Cécilia Tsan, pianist Simone Pedroni.

John Williams Reimagined is a 2-CD set album featuring more than 150 minutes of music: it's a wide selection of themes and pieces from many scores by John Williams scores including E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, Star Wars, Harry Potter, Jurassic Park, Schindler's List and also features some real "deep cuts" from the composer's repertoire like The River, Images and Jane Eyre, performed and interpreted with great sensitivity in the unique setting of a chamber trio of flute, cello and piano. The album was released in 2024 by Warner Classics and was greeted with great acclaim.

Now the trio is about to go on a mini world tour: John Williams Reimagined will play in Rochester, NY on 18th October (as part of the Soundtrax Film and Music Festival), Dusseldorf, Germany on 22nd October, London Cadogan Hall (UK) on 27th October and Paris, France on 28th October. Tickets and info: https://go.evvnt.com/3251881-0 (Rochester, NY), https://overlook-events.com (Europe).

On the eve of their live performances, Sara Andon, Cécilia Tsan, Simone Pedroni and producer Robert Townson sit down with The Legacy of John Williams for a lenghty conversation about the genesis of the John Williams Reimagined project and how it all came together, while also sharing their love and admiration for the Maestro's music.

For more information, visit https://thelegacyofjohnwilliams.com/2025/10/16/john-williams-reimagined-podcast

Mark Graham is Hollywood’s first-call “music prep man” and a name trusted by the entire community when it comes to the preparation and the recording of film scores, having worked as orchestrator, conductor, head of music prep, librarian and copyist on literally thousands of film and television projects. The head of music preparation is one of the most important member of the team that creates a film soundtrack and, together with the music editor, is often the composer’s right-hand person. He started to collaborate with John Williams in the late 1990s as part of the music prep team, taking the mantle from Williams' longtime trusted music preparator and librarian JoAnn Kane (who founded JoAnn Kane Music Service in the mid-1980s, the leading music preparation company for virtually the whole industry). Graham inherited JoAnn Kane Music Service and became the owner of the company, becoming Williams’ right-hand man for music preparation of all of his works. During all these years, Mark collaborated very closely with Williams in a key position, seeing first hand his working method and becoming a trusted colleague who ensured that everything would always go smoothly and efficiently.

In addition to his work for John Williams, Graham also worked as orchestrator and conductor for such composers as Alan Silvestri, John Debney, Alexandre Desplat and Theodore Shapiro. As head of music preparation, he worked on an impressive series of successful films, including such all-time box office hits as Avengers: Endgame and Avatar: The Way of Water.

Mark sits down for a rare conversation with The Legacy of John Williams to talk about the path that led him to become the leading music preparator in Hollywood and to his collaboration with John Williams, telling stories and anecdotes about his three decades of work for the Maestro and sharing the unique insight he collected over the years by being one of Williams’ closest and most trusted colleagues.

For more information, read at https://thelegacyofjohnwilliams.com/2025/09/30/mark-graham-podcast/

As promised during his latest talk, GRAMMY-nominated soundtrack producer Mike Matessino returns to The Legacy of John Williams podcast to discuss more about the historical 50th anniversary soundtrack edition of Jaws, but also to present another archival reissue from John Williams' catalogue: the suspenseful score for the 1977 thriller Black Sunday, finally back in print in a newly remastered edition courtesy of La-La Land Records. Matessino also takes the chance to comment about his involvement in John Williams - The Anthology, a lavish retrospective boxset from Sony Classical whose first volume has been released last July.

In this new conversation, Mike Matessino goes further in the depth of his restoration work for the Jaws 50th Anniversary soundtrack, addressing both the challenges and the joys of this venture; after that, he talks about his remastering of Williams' tense score for Black Sunday, for which he also offers a new assessement on its artistic value. The talk is rounded off with commentary on the John Williams Anthology boxset and a tribute to Kurt-Hans Goedicke, former legendary Principal Timpani of the London Symphony Orchestra, who recently passed away and whose epic and formidable sound graced classic Williams scores recorded in London including the original Star Wars trilogy, Superman, Dracula, Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Read more at https://thelegacyofjohnwilliams.com/2025/09/16/soundtrack-spotlight-jaws50-black-sunday-jw-anthology/

John Williams: A Composer's Life is the first major biography in English language on the legendary American composer, authored by Los Angeles-based writer Tim Greiving and published by Oxford University Press (release date is September 2, 2025). The 640-page book is an engaging overview on the life and career of the renowned composer, a comprehensive retrospective of a musician who defined the sound of movies for at least two generations of filmgoers and whose body of work is among the most well known of the modern era, going beyond its mere function as musical accompaniment to a film and becoming a revered object in itself. Yet the man has remained very private all throughout his career and while he became a beloved public figure, he kept his personal life very far from the spotlight.

Through unique access to the composer himself and many of his longtime collaborators, friends, and family members, Greiving offers an exhaustive portrait of the man behind the genius, accurately chronicling his entire life and the incredible career trajectory that led him to become "the Maestro of the Movies."

Tim Greiving sits down with The Legacy of John Williams to talk about his lifelong love for John Williams' music, his quest in bringing the first biography on the Maestro to life, the thorough learning process he went through when meeting and talking with his idol and the weight of the daunting task he chose.

Read more at The Legacy of John Williams:

https://thelegacyofjohnwilliams.com/2025/07/16/tim-greiving-podcast/

Pre-order John Williams: A Composer's Life on Oxford University Press: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/john-williams-9780197620885

Tim Greiving's official website: https://timgreiving.com/ Follow Tim Greiving's Substack Behind The Moon: https://behindthemoon.substack.com/

“From legendary composer John Williams, a soundtrack so incredible it was recorded twice…”

On the heels of the celebrations for the 50th Anniversary of Steven Spielberg's blockbuster classic Jaws, Universal Studios and Universal Music Enterprises presents new remastered releases of the masterful score composed by John Williams. The plural is not a typo because both the original film score and the soundtrack album recording are being newly reissued in brand-new editions restored, remixed and remastered by GRAMMY-nominated producer Mike Matessino for digital, vinyl and CD releases.

Soundtrack producer Mike Matessino comes back on The Legacy of John Williams podcast to offer a first round of commentary and illustrating the details of the various releases of the Jaws 50th Anniversary, while also assessing the importance of the score in John Williams' career and further elaborating on the differences between the original film score and the soundtrack album recording.

Visit Jaws50Music.com for more information. JAWS™ & ©1975 Universal City Studios LLLP

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What are the best re-recordings of John Williams’ music by other conductors? Star Wars is famously one of the most re-recorded pieces of music in the world, yet there are so much more John Williams re-recordings by many top conductors which deserves a bit of recognition. Join The Legacy of John Williams Head Contributor Tim Burden in a fascinating journey showcasing highlights and curiosities from over 50 years of re-recordings of John Williams’ music—from the superb readings by Charles Gerhardt and Zubin Mehta to the recent vibrant recordings by Gustavo Dudamel, including some fun and unexpected oddities in-between.

If you want to dig deeper on the subject, read the in-depth essay by Editor Maurizio Caschetto chronicling the history of John Williams’ re-recordings.