For the SDO’s inaugural concert on May 22, the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts hosted a special evening celebrating the life and work of inimitable film composer Henry Mancini. The all-Mancini program was filled with firsts as well as delightful variations on what has become a standard collection of "greatest hits," all arranged or orchestrated by Scott Dunn for the 50-piece orchestra.  

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Dunn raised the curtains with an unexpected and virtually unknown Mancini composition, Bagatelle - one which set the tone for things to come through the composer’s career as well as the evening’s concert.  

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Three decades of Mancini’s work were brought to the concert hall in mainly chronological order, including hits from the soundtracks to The Glenn Miller Story and the Latin opening to Orson Welles’ Touch of Evil, as well as a suite from the jazz-fuelled Peter Gunn arranged by Dunn. The end of the first half had the audience getting emotional with a suite from Breakfast at Tiffany’s which also showcased the incredible choir Tonality who joined forces with the SDO, before a diverse second half including the percussion-driven “Charade” and of course a mood-lightening suite of music from the iconic “The Pink Panther.” 

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The night was an unforgettable success and an incredible debut concert for the SDO, fulfilling the orchestra’s goal of bringing legendary film music of Hollywood to the concert hall.