Fans of time-traveling romance and Highland drama can watch the music of Outlander leap off the screen and into the concert hall when a live orchestra performs the show’s score at Popejoy Hall on Nov. 23 at 7 p.m. The performance pairs Emmy-winning composer Bear McCreary’s music with visuals from all eight seasons of the recently concluded television series, projected on a giant HD screen.
A Cinematic Event Built Around the Score
According to Popejoy Presents, the concert features a live orchestra performing McCreary’s acclaimed score, curated by series showrunner Matthew B. Roberts, while highlights from the show’s eight seasons illuminate the screen behind the musicians. The event listing recommends parental guidance for children in attendance. Per the official Outlander in Concert site, the officially licensed show was created in collaboration with Roberts and McCreary and runs for approximately two hours, including a 20-minute intermission.
The Outlander television series, based on Diana Gabaldon’s books, has sold an estimated 50 million copies worldwide, according to a Popejoy press release cited by The Daily Lobo. That same release states the touring production began with a world premiere in Scotland and is touring over 75 cities across the United States and Europe, with concert-goers set to travel from 40 countries to its Scotland premiere.
Meet the Conductor Bringing It to Albuquerque
Leading the Popejoy performance will be Heidi Joosten, who serves as musical director and conductor for the show, the student paper’s reporting notes. Joosten previously conducted Avatar: The Last Airbender in Concert at Popejoy, and she told the Daily Lobo that conducting the Outlander score is a dream come true. She grew up listening to Celtic music and playing harp, experiences she says shaped her connection to the material.
Joosten described Outlander as a love story involving time travel and periods of Scottish, French and American history, while also calling it feminist and focused on love, loss, sacrifice, courage and finding home, per the Daily Lobo’s interview. She said conducting an orchestra is a gift that gives her the best seat in the house, adding that audiences will spot her at the front of the stage with red hair.
What the Orchestra Will Sound Like
The Albuquerque ensemble includes a live group of musicians and vocalists featuring bagpipes, fiddles and the hurdy-gurdy, according to the Daily Lobo’s preview. That instrumentation echoes the format described at other tour stops: at a Louisville performance, Onstage Magazine reported that conductor Joosten led an ensemble playing McCreary’s score live while edited series clips ran, with instruments including bagpipes, fiddle, harp, bodhrán and whistle alongside two vocalists. Onstage Magazine also reported that the Louisville Palace house was nearly full, with audience members cheering for Claire and Jamie and hissing at the show’s antagonists…