Having already cleaned up in the worlds of books, movies, as-yet-unpublished plays, theme parks, blog posts, Etsy scarves, and Lego-based video games, Harry Potter is now set to become a series of concerts. Orchestral group CineConcerts Live has announced that it’s partnering with Warner Bros. to make the wizarding world the next destination for its ongoing movie concert series, in which live orchestras play the soundtracks to projected films. The group apparently plans to cover all eight films in the Harry Potter franchise, starting with a tour this year featuring Harry Potter And The Sorcerer’s Stone.
There’s nothing especially new about orchestras adding film scores—especially those of Harry Potter composer John Williams—into their repertoires. But CineConcerts’ method does hearken back to a much older era of cinema, when silent films were accompanied by in-theater musicians instead of pre-packaged soundtracks. The group’s president, Justin Freer, expressed his hope that the concerts might introduce more young people to classical music, because there’s nothing a child wants more after learning about a magical school of delight and wonder than to go out and buy a violin.
The concert series will kick off at Philadelphia’s Mann Center for the Performing Arts on June 23, before moving on to San Diego, Nashville, and several other North American cities.