• The extended versions of The Lord of the Rings  trilogy last for a total of 11 hours and 55 minutes; the three films took a record 274 days to make
• The music and soundtrack albums for The Lord of the Rings  films have won three Oscars, three Golden Globes and four Grammys
• Howard Shore, composer of the score for The Hobbit  and The Lord of the Rings  trilogy – for which he won three Oscars – is a classically trained musician who has scored more than 100 films
• The music that accompanies the adventures of the Hobbits contains a range of British and Irish folk instruments, including the mandolin, Celtic harp, musette (a kind of accordion) and the bodhrán, reflecting Tolkien’s view of the Shire
• The Rings of Power  is the most expensive series in the history of television, the first season took a year to film

Host and celebrity guest: William Kircher
Soloist: Johanna Krumin, vocals
King’s Pipers
Orchestra and Choir of the Shire

Howard Shore, one of the most important film composers, is best known for his work on Peter Jackson’s film adaptation of Tolkien’s fantasy-adventure trilogy The Lord of the Rings. Following Wagner’s example, Shore helped the films achieve their dramaturgical depth through a sophisticated technique of interweaving and leitmotifs – themes that denote a certain person, object or force. Although the artistic merits of film music are still frequently debated, many scholars and critics consider that the evocative music Shore composed for Tolkien’s world displays such a mastery of harmony, polyphony and orchestral effects that it would be the envy of many a traditional concert music composer. The magical musical excerpts will be performed on the Križanke stage by the Orchestra and Choir of the Shire. They will be joined on stage by singer Johanna Krumin, bagpipes group King’s Pipers, and William Kircher, cast member of The Hobbit film trilogy, who played the dwarf Bifur, a member of Thorin’s famous party, which accompanied Bilbo Baggins on his legendary journey.

The performance will be in English without Slovenian subtitles.