Mr. Soundtrack

John Williams is the most well-known composer ever. What about Beethoven and Mozart, you say? Just think about it. Ask an average person to hum you a piece by Beethoven and you may get the first four notes of the Fifth Symphony. However, I guarantee that if you ask any random dude off the street to hum the theme from Star Wars you’ll probably have to tell him to stop after a few minutes. Williams has turned the craft of composing movie scores into pop art, and his themes are etched in the American subconscious, never to be erased. It is truly amazing that with only two notes, he could make us crap our pants in fear of a shark attack with the theme from Jaws. Or that he could make those five notes from Encounters of the Third Kind forever equal “talking to the friendly aliens.” The Plano Civic Chorus presents “A Tribute to John Williams” at the Eisenmann Center in Richardson at 8:15 p.m. Saturday. Call 972-473-7262 or visit Planosymphony.org for info.

Sat., Feb. 21, 8:15 p.m., 2009