Rochester, N.Y. (WROC) — Conrad Pope remembers talking with his mentor, Arthur Morton, when Morton relayed a conversation he had had with a young John Williams.
Morton held up a pencil to Williams and said, “Young man, I think you’ll make more money with this pencil than you will with 10 fingers.”
Williams went on to write some of the most memorable film scores in the history of film and Pope, through his own talent and drive, has been tapped to orchestrate some of them.
This means Pope took Williams melody and music then wrote the parts for various instruments so an orchestra could play it.
His wife, Nan Schwarts, has also made a name for herself in Hollywood having worked on the music for TV shows, films and music albums.
She won a Grammy for her work on a Natalie Cole album.
Both Pope and Schwartz are talking at Kilbourn Hall this Saturday at 4 p.m as part of the Soundtrax Film Music Festival.
The panel is free and open to the public.
Friday, both sat down with Adam Chodak to talk about their careers and what goes into writing, orchestrating and arranging music for TV and film.
That interview starts streaming Friday at 8 p.m. on the RochesterFirst app.
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