Published Oct 21, 2015
Ron Jones Talks Star Trek: The Ultimate Voyage at Royal Albert Hall
Ron Jones Talks Star Trek: The Ultimate Voyage at Royal Albert Hall
Star Trek: The Ultimate Voyage, as previously reported here at StarTrek.com, will have its world premiere on November 1 at the Royal Albert Hall, with veteran Trek composers Ron Jones and Jay Chattaway set to make special guest conducting appearances. The Ultimate Voyage will offer a unique concert experience in which fans are treated to the finest music and visuals from 50 years of Star Trek shows, movies and more, with the music performed by world-class orchestras and the Trek footage beamed in high-definition onto a 40-foot screen. At the Royal Albert Hall event, the London Philharmonic Orchestra will perform the music, conducted by Justin Freer.
Jones will guide the orchestra in performing the music he composed for the 1997 videogame Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, while Chattaway will guest conduct "The Inner Light," his beloved TNG composition. Below is a brief interview The Ultimate Voyage did with Jones.Your experience as a composer spans the industry and has seen you in front of an impressive range of musicians. What is it about Star Trek and its music that has been your inspiration?For me, I love the challenge of figuring out how to score music that expresses the essence of the dramtic nature of mankind exploring the far reaches of space and the far reaches of the human condition. What an intersting adventure, expressing those emotions. Very few TV series come close to those things. Star Trek demands so much of the music. The audience expects something that dazzles, music of the highest order each time. I enjoy that a lot.Star Trek: The Ultimate Voyage is a concert, which isn’t something a fan would normally expect for Star Trek. What’s your experience with the fans and the music?I have never meet a fan of Star Trek that was not fully passionate and completely serious about it. It is really unlike anyother group of fans. There has been a lot of kidding made of the Star Trek fans, but if you look inside those fans you find that they all have a sense of hope for the future of mankind. They see us all one day working together and traveling to the furtherst reaches of the universe and carrying the best of what we are about. I would say that is very special.
This music has never been performed live before. Where are the origins of these original Star Trek scores.For my pieces, they are actual cues used in either TNG or the game score Starfleet Academy. When one is scoring, you just focus on supportting the scenes in the show, not about if a cue will make a nice concert piece. Because the Star Trek franchise always demands the music work at both a high musicial level and a strong, expansive human level it, (and so it) ends up being perfect for concert performance. In a strange way, these cues form the symphonic works of our time.2016 marks the 50th anniversary of Star Trek. What do you attribute to all those years of success?Star Trek is all about the human condition, the human adventure. Star Trek has employed the most talented filmmakers, producers, actors, composers, directors, editors, costume and set designers and so many more. When you watch a Star Trek episode or film it transports, entertains, informs and takes you into an amazing and challenging world. It beats Dr. Phil reruns every time.For tickets, go to royalalberthall.com.