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Films in concert: where to see your favourite movies with a live orchestra
From Dances With Wolves at The Royal Festival Hall to Harry Potter at Edinburgh Castle – the best film scores are coming alive this year
There’s nothing quite like watching a film at the cinema. Except, that is, watching it in a concert hall with a live orchestra playing the score. Combining the magic of the big screen with the skin-prickling energy of live music, experiencing the classics with an orchestra is like seeing them again for the first time. Some film scores stand up on their own as brilliant classical albums, and others work better when they’re woven into the story being told on screen, but all come alive like never before when you hear them played live. Here’s our pick of the best upcoming Film In Concert performances not to miss.
Labyrinth
You might only think of David Bowie (and David Bowie’s bulge…) when you think of the music for Labyrinth, but Trevor Jones’ dark fairytale of a score is every bit as powerful as ‘Dance Magic Dance’. Jones made a name for himself in the 80s as the go-to for edgy, alternative fantasy scores (counting Excalibur, Time Bandits and The Dark Crystal as credits, before he picked up his first BAFTA nod for Last Of The Mohicans), but his score to Jim Henson’s musical masterpiece is his most enduring. And if that’s not enough, the live show comes with a band to play all the best Bowie bits too. Touring concert halls this winter after a debut at London’s Eventim Apollo in April, this is the closest you can get to the heart of Labyrinth without having to cross the Bog Of Eternal Stench.
Dances With Wolves
Sweeping the board at Oscars in 1990, Kevin Costner’s grand American epic bought back the western – and foreshadowed everything from Yellowstone to Avatar. The late great John Barry (James Bond, Out Of Africa, Chaplin) deservedly took home one of the film’s seven Academy Awards on Oscars night, and his soaring, majestic score has now become part of the classic canon. Dripping romance and big-sky melancholy, it’s the sort of score that makes you nostalgic for a place you’ve never been. The special one-off concert performance at the Royal Festival Hall is one a rare chance to hear the film at its best.
Dances with Wolves in Concert plays London’s Royal Festival Hall on 5 June. Find tickets here
Disney in Concert
Music and film have gone hand in hand since the very beginning of moving pictures, but it was Disney – through classical sound experiments on his Silly Symphonies and Fantasia – that did more to elevate the form than most. That legacy continued across more than a century of animated classics, now celebrated by the Novello Orchestra in a live show that brings together Disney’s best scores, songs and suites alongside the animated magic on the big screen. Expect everything from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs to Frozen, and The Jungle Book to The Lion King. And expect to go home singing ‘We Don’t Talk About Bruno’ (again).
Disney in Concert: The Sound Of Magic opens in 2026 at venues around the UK. Find tickets here
The Marvel Infinity Saga
Twenty-three films, three phases and 11 years’ worth of blockbusters in one night – the Novello Orchestra take on the heroic job of squashing the sounds of the whole MCU into one super-sized live music and film show. The Infinity Saga covers everything from Iron Man to Spider-Man: Far From Home (ie, everything before it got a bit weird and mult-versey), including sparkling action scores from Alan Silvestri, Danny Elfman, Henry Jackman, Ludwig Göransson, Mark Mothersbaugh, Michael Giacchino, Tyler Bates and more. If you already get a tingle every time you hear Elfman’s Marvel theme, just wait until you hear it played live.
Marvel Studios’ Infinity Saga Concert comes to Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester, Glasgow and Edinburgh in June. Find tickets here
Home Alone
The father of film music has written some of the most memorable soundtracks in history (see below), but John Williams’ Home Alone score is special. Set the film to anything else and you’d just have a fun family movie about an annoying kid torturing criminals. Add in Williams and you have a Christmas miracle – a film bursting with heart and magic that lifts all the slapstick into something untouchable. Wiliams even wrote an original carol for the film, which now seems so much a part of Christmas it’s impossible to imagine the season without it. Book early for the Sheffield City Hall performance (and don’t forget the babysitter).
Home Alone in concert plays at Sheffield City Hall on 9 December. Find tickets here
Harry Potter and the Chamber Of Secrets
Talking of John Williams, who else could make Hogwarts feel real than the man who brought Star Wars, Indiana Jones and E.T. to life? Director Chris Columbus (who also made Home Alone), hired Williams for the first Harry Potter sequel in 2002 – then fresh from Attack Of The Clones and Minority Report, and still moonlighting on Catch Me If You Can – and the result was yet another classic. As if the film, and the score, needed any more magic, the live show will be played by The Royal Scottish National Orchestra on Edinburgh Castle’s historic open-air esplanade. Edinburgh has long been the spiritual home of Harry Potter, which makes this one-off concert performance feel even more unmissable.
Harry Potter and the Chamber Of Secrets in concert plays at Edinburgh Castle Esplanade on 13 July. Find tickets and hotel packages here
