Willow & Cavern has announced its inaugural release celebrating Academy Award-winning film composer Elmer Bernstein (The Magnificent Seven, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Man with the Golden Arm, The Ten Commandments, The Great Escape). The album, entitled 100 Years of Elmer Bernstein, presents the Irish National Symphony Orchestra’s 2022 concert in Dublin, which was conducted by Bernstein’s son Peter and produced by Tim Burden. The release was supervised by orchestrator, arranger and composer Nikiforos Chrysoloras, mixed by George Milioris and mastered by George Deligiannis at Willow & Cavern. The album is being released in three different versions: a highlights edition containing a curated selection of the program and the complete concert edition as originally heard in December 2022, both presented digitally, alongside a limited 3=CD collector’s physical edition of 100 individually numbered copies featuring previously unreleased archival material. The digital editions are now available to stream on Bandcamp and the physical collector’s edition is now available for pre-order (click here for the highlights album and click here for the complete recording album). The streaming links will be added to this page soon.
.
Willow & Cavern’s inaugural release celebrates one of the most revered film composers of all time, Elmer Bernstein.
Born in 1922, Bernstein swiftly rose through the ranks to become one of Hollywood’s leading film composers, responsible for such classics as The Man with the Golden Arm, The Ten Commandments, The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape, To Kill a Mockingbird and Birdman of Alcatraz.
Bernstein’s formidable reputation for melody and innovation is on display in the Willow & Cavern release, 100 Years of Elmer Bernstein. This is a thrilling and dynamic presentation of the Irish National Symphony Orchestra’s acclaimed 2022 concert in Dublin, which was conducted by Bernstein’s son Peter and produced by noted broadcaster Tim Burden.
The release was supervised by orchestrator, arranger and composer Nikiforos Chrysoloras, mixed by George Milioris and mastered by George Deligiannis at Willow & Cavern. Working from the original concert stereo mix, the production preserves both the concert hall nuance and the idiosyncrasies of Bernstein’s musical signature. The album has been prepared in collaboration with the Elmer Bernstein estate.
Three versions of the album will be available: a highlights edition containing a curated selection of the programme and the complete concert edition as originally heard in December 2022, both presented digitally, alongside a limited 3CD collector’s physical edition of 100 individually numbered copies featuring previously unreleased archival material. The digital editions will be released in April 2026, with the collector’s edition available for pre-order.
Founded by Nikiforos Chrysoloras, Willow & Cavern centres on the development, production and release of film music projects. This includes the preservation and renewed presentation of film scores and orchestral repertoire through new recordings and archival initiatives.
Alongside its own projects, Willow & Cavern collaborates with composers, music supervisors, studios, orchestras, festivals and composers’ estates on selected projects, where it oversees musical realisation from orchestration through to final mixing and mastering.
In parallel with his work as an orchestrator and composer, Chrysoloras collaborates with composers, orchestras, festivals and composers’ estates, including those of James Horner, Gerard Schurmann and Michael Kamen. He has also created world premiere concert arrangements of scores by Jerry Goldsmith, John Ottman and Wojciech Kilar, as well as adapting and arranging Bruno Coulais’ Academy Award-nominated score for Les Choristes for live-to-picture performance, and is acting as music editor on Don Davis’ forthcoming Metropolis centenary project.
Here’s the track list of the :complete recording” album:
1. Hollywood and the Stars (3:03)
2. Introduction (2:11)
3. The Magnificent Seven – Suite (5:30)
4. The Age of Innocence – Suite (7:16)
5. Interlude I (3:21)
6. My Left Foot – Suite (7:39)
7. Interlude II (3:11)
8. The Comedy Suite (7:12)
9. Interlude III (1:20)
10. Walk on the Wild Side – Theme (3:09)
11. Sweet Smell of Success – Suite (3:40)
12. Slipstream – Suite (World Premiere) (7:01)
13. Interlude IV (4:52)
14. To Kill a Mockingbird – Suite (9:06)
15. Interlude V (4:28)
16. Toccata for Toy Trains (9:06)
17. The Grifters – Suite (4:32)
18. Interlude VI (5:42)
19. True Grit – Suite (4:47)
20. The Ten Commandments – Suite (7:58)
21. Interlude VII (0:32)
22. National Geographic – Theme (Encore) (1:20)
23. The Great Escape – Main Title (Encore) (2:29)
24. Irish National Anthem (Amhrán na bhFiann) (World Premiere) (1:16)
Here’s the cover art of the “highlights” album”
