Born in New York, the son of a musician, John Williams moved with his family in 1948 to Los Angeles, where he studied composition with Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco. He then studied piano with Rosina Lhévinne at New York’s Juilliard School. John Williams returned to Los Angeles, where he worked as a pianist with the orchestras of Henry Mancini, Alfred Newman, Franz Waxman and Bernard Herrmann, the leading Hollywood composers at that time.
From the early 1970s John Williams became known internationally as a composer of film scores. His career was influenced in particular by his collaboration with director Steven Spielberg, with films such as Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E. T. The Extra-Terrestrial, Indiana Jones, Schindler’s List, Jurassic Park, Saving Private Ryan, A. I. Artificial Intelligence, Minority Report and Catch Me If You Can. His soundtracks for the Star Wars series and the first three Harry Potter films are equally acclaimed.
In addition to his film scores, John Williams, who conducted the Boston Pops Orchestra from 1980 to 1993, has also composed numerous works for leading American orchestras, such as the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic. He recently composed a violin concerto for Anne-Sophie Mutter. Many of his compositions were written for gala events, among them four Olympic Games and the inauguration of US President Barack Obama.
John Williams has received many awards, including five Oscars, 22 Grammys, four Golden Globes and five Emmys. He makes his debut with the Berliner Philharmoniker at these concerts.
Bruno Delepelaire was born in Paris and began playing the cello at the age of five; he studied with Philippe Muller at the Paris Conservatory. He came to Berlin in 2012 to continue his training with Jens-Peter Maintz at the University of the Arts and with Ludwig Quandt at the Karajan Academy of the Berliner Philharmoniker. He also attended master classes with François Salque, Wen-Sinn Yang and Wolfgang Boettcher. Bruno Delepelaire gained orchestral experience with the Verbier Festival Orchestra and the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra. He has been first principal cellist with the Berliner Philharmoniker since November 2013.
Bruno Delepelaire has received several awards, both as a soloist and with his string quartet, Quatuor Cavatine. He can also be heard as a chamber musician in concerts with the Berlin Piano Quartet and the 12 Cellists of the Berliner Philharmoniker. He has appeared as a soloist with the Munich Radio Orchestra as well as the symphony orchestras in Aalborg, Stavanger and Bournemouth. Bruno Delepelaire plays a cello made by Matteo Goffriller, on loan from the Karolina Blaberg Foundation.
