Matthew Wardell

Matthew Wardell conducts the Jacksonville Symphony in performances of "Star Wars: Return of the Jedi in Concert," where the orchestra plays John Williams's score live while the film screens overhead. Based on our directory listings, this is a film-concert engagement rather than a traditional subscription program.

Listeners can expect the full theatrical cut of "Return of the Jedi" projected on a large screen while the orchestra performs John Williams's score live underneath the dialogue and sound effects. The conductor's main job in this format is precision timing, matching each musical cue to the exact frame of film, from the swelling brass of the Imperial March to the quieter woodwind and string passages that underscore character moments. Audiences familiar with the film will hear thematic material they already know, including the heroic main title fanfare and Leia's theme, reframed as a live symphonic experience. This kind of concert tends to favor clarity and steady pulse over interpretive flexibility, since the music must stay locked to picture throughout.