Win tickets to the Dublin performance of The Return of the King. See my Twitter account for details, or click HERE!

I still can't answer many Hobbit questions, but for the time being, feel free to post them here and I'll do the best I can!

There are a couple of LOTR performances coming up that I haven't yet added to the blog. Sorry! Catch-up day today!

First, The Return of the King is coming to Dublin, Ireland in late October 2013. Details and order info are available HERE.

ROTK will also be coming to the Ravinia Festival next summer ... which means I'l probably be lurking there somewhere as well! The links aren't up yet, but they've already announced it publicly, so it's safe to mention here.

Third -- and this is very exciting news for those who missed the initial go-round of the LOTR cycle -- Fellowship is returning to Wolf Trap in September, 2013. This seems to indicate that the other two pictures will follow (timeframe to be determined). Details and tickets are HERE. These performances will be conducted by the great Erik Ochsner. If you haven't heard his interpretation before, I highly recommend it!

So, get to it!

I will be signing The Music of the Lord of the Rings at Ravinia's presentation of Howard Shore's score to The Two Towers on both Thursday, August 15 and Friday, August 16. Watch this space for details.

I put this on Twitter the other day, but forgot to put it on the blog. Shore's newest, Jimmy P., is coming out on Howe Records on September 10. The score, which was recorded in New York, features the Dover Quartet as well as some interesting interplay between the quartet and a small orchestra. It's currently available for pre-order on Amazon right HERE.

More #HowardShore news: his new score to Jimmy P. is coming to Howe Records on Sept. 10 -- http://t.co/CmxqMOcRXf pic.twitter.com/0oAH4GbsN5
— Doug Adams (@DougAdamsMusic) July 27, 2013

Peter Jackson has been live-blogging the final day of shooting on The Hobbit. Approximately 11 hours ago, he posted a shot from the spotting sessions with Howard Shore and spoke about the music of An Unexpected Journey and of The Desolation of Smaug.

Music spotting with Howard Shore

Next week, when I'm back in the cutting room full time, Howard will be getting a deluge!

The score for Film 2 is going to be terrific. Last year, we were a little frustrated because we had to revisit so many of the LotR themes - The Shire, Rivendell, Galadriel, Gollum, and the Ring - we did this because I'm wanting these 3 Hobbit movies to have great unity with the Rings films in design, wardrobe, story and music, so it meant "An Unexpected Journey" had to acknowledge what had gone before.

But this time around, apart from a couple of Ring moments, it's all new: Beorn, Mirkwood, The Woodland Realm, Laketown, Bard and Smaug all give Howard the chance to write brand new themes, and he's knocking it out of the park!

We've now finished yesterday's work, and can start on today's scenes!

*****

You can read more on Jackson's Facebook page HERE.

Please remind me to tell you about this later--maybe this fall sometime. Just remember the garish throw rug ... or the equally garish socks.

Thanks!

I put this on Twitter yesterday, but am just now adding it to the blog. (It is generally easier for me to post things quickly on Twitter, so please consider following!) Yesterday's big news was that the fantastic New Zealand Symphony Orchestra is going to be recording Howard Shore's score to The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug!

Yes, this is a slight break with tradition--only it's not. The NZSO was actually the first orchestra to ever perform Shore's Middle-earth music. When Fellowship's Mines of Moria sequence premiered at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival, New Zealand's leading orchestra--and a male chorus full of trained vocalists and footballers--recorded the score. That performance is still in the finished film today. (They also recorded the Breaking of the Fellowship, though when that portion of the film was re-edited, the London Philharmonic re-recorded the score; the NZSO's performance can still be heard during the FOTR: EE fan scroll.)

The Desolation of Smaug will put Shore and company back in the same room in which the 2001 Cannes preview was recorded, which is actually pretty cool! It's a wonderful way to take advantage of another of New Zealand's natural resources.

You can read the NZSO's press release right HERE.

Congrats to Howard Shore on winning Colonne Sonore's "Best Music for a Foreign Film" for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey!