Thanks to the organizational prowess of the Tau Beta Pi (engineering honor society) social chair and a generous invitation from a biochemical engineer, I went to the Boston Pops last Thursday night. Happy 125th anniversary to the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO)!

This is how lovely Symphony Hall looks when it is not so yucky outside.

Here's the beautiful ceiling of Symphony Hall.

We sat at the same table as lovebirds Thomas '05 and Shannon "Optimus Prime" '05 -- remember their engagement party last January?

That tall man in the middle is none other than John Williams! He has composed scores for scores of major motion pictures, including the Star Wars trilogy, the Indiana Jones films, the Harry Potter films, and Memoirs of a Geisha. The paragraph in the program that listed other films for which he has composed was approximately 35 lines long.

Here's what they performed:

A Postcard to Boston
(A Hymn to New England)

Three Pieces from Star Wars
(Main Title -- Anakin's Theme -- Imperial March)

Selections from Harry Potter
(Hedwig's Theme -- Aunt Marge's Waltz -- Harry's Wondrous World)

Jim's New Life, from Empire of the Sun

Suite from Memoirs of a Geisha
(Sayuri's Theme -- The Chairman's Waltz -- Brush on Silk)

Flight to Neverland, from Hook

Monsters Beauties, & Heroes
(King Kong -- Jaws -- Casablanca -- An Affair to Remember -- Robin Hood -- Superman)

Theme from Cinema Paradiso

Tribute to Three Legendary Composers
(Theme from Star Trek the Motion Picture -- Theme from Laura -- Theme from The Magnificient Seven)

The Olympic Spirit

On the Esplanade (along the banks of the Boston side of the Charles River) is the Hatch Shell...

...where the Boston Pops perform every 4th of July.