Orchestras are plunging into movie music programming at an unprecedented rate. To get the big picture, Sounds & Stories contributor Kyle MacMillan, writing for Symphony magazine, spoke with several composers whose film scores are being performed in concert halls this season.

The reasons for this sudden increase in interest are partly artistic, reflecting the broader acceptance of film music into the pantheon of classical music. Film music also comes with the built-in advantage of being an inherent marriage of sight and sound. Then there’s the financial element. “There’s a need for orchestras to make money,” said Michael Giacchino, who wrote the Oscar-winning score of the animated film “Up” (to be featured in the “Pixar in Concert” programs Nov. 28-30, performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under conductor Richard Kaufman at Symphony Center).

“If they can put a few programs on their schedule every year that will bring the people in,” Giacchino said, “and [help] cover the cost of the rest of their season, why not do that?”

To read the full article from Symphony magazine, click here.

PHOTO: The London Concert Orchestra presents a program of music by Danny Elfman, from the films of Tim Burton, at the Royal Albert Hall in London. | Photo: Paul Sanders