The movie scores of John Williams are the soundtrack to my childhood and teenage years.

As a child, I tuned in at 5pm Monday to Friday for either Lost in Space, Land of the Giants and Time Tunnel. As a teenager, I gravitated to Irwin Allen’s disaster movies such as The Poseidon Adventure, The Towering Inferno and Earthquake. As a young man, it was Jaws and Star Wars.

Now in his early 90s, Williams is still composing. His film music is second to none and he has a bagful of Oscars to prove it.

Adelaide Wind Orchestra play the music of John Williams. Photo © AWO

The Adelaide Wind Orchestra (AWO) is a group of professional musicians, music educators and volunteers and it picked a winner with this concert. It was almost a sellout. The other impressive aspect of the audience was its demographic. Elder Hall was full of mums, dads and kids, testament to the enduring popularity of a film music canon as impressive as it gets: Jaws, Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Superman, Jurassic Park, the Harry Potter series and ET.

Williams’ musical influences are as American as apple...