John Williams' latest overseas trip will form another new album from the celebrated composer. John Williams in Tokyo, recorded in 2023 with the Saito Kinen Orchestra and featuring a very special tribute to one of the country's most beloved conductors, will be released May 10 by Deutsche Grammophon on multiple formats including standard CD and vinyl and a deluxe 2CD/Blu-ray set.

An arguable highlight of Williams' continued tenure as film score's elder statesman is his semi-annual trip outside the U.S. to take the baton with a celebrated foreign orchestra. The tradition began in 2020 at a pre-COVID performance with the Wiener Philharmoniker in Vienna, Austria; the resulting album, John Williams in Vienna, was the bestselling classical title of the year. A performance with the Berlin Philharmoniker in Germany became yet another celebrated album, 2022's The Berlin Concert.

The Saito Kinen performance from September 5, 2023 was unusual in that Williams - still vital at 91 years old and only four months removed from his latest film project (the score to the fifth and final Indiana Jones film) - only performed the second act of the concert, although his baton was buzzing with classics. He led the orchestra in three numbers from the Harry Potter film series, five from the Star Wars saga, and themes from classics like Raiders of The Lost Ark, Schindler's List and Superman: The Movie (the latter of which is the lead single from the album).

French conductor Stéphane Denève, the music director for the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, led the first half, with selections from E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial as well as two concert pieces by Williams which were fitting for the evening: "Sound the Bells!" - a piece written to celebrate the marriage of Japan's Crown Prince Naruhito and Masako Owada while on a tour of Japan with the Boston Pops - and "Tributes (For Seiji)," written in 1999 for Williams' friend Seiji Ozawa, longtime director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Denève's rendition of the latter is the closing track for the standard release John Williams in Tokyo. (The deluxe set features the concert audio and video in full, concert order.)

The friendship between Williams and Ozawa is the stuff of legend for classical fans. Ozawa had risen to prominence as music director for the Toronto and San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, but his most notable tenure was as leader of the Boston Symphony Orchestra from 1973 to 2002, still the ensemble's longest-tenured director. In 1980, having already won Oscars for JAWS and Star Wars, Williams was chosen to succeed Arthur Fiedler as the principal composer of the BSO's lighter concert offshoot, The Boston Pops; he served as their leader through 1993. In that time, the duo became close friends, and their long-awaited reunion - occurring only a day after Ozawa's 88th birthday - became a reality with the dual occasions of the Ozawa-founded Matsumoto Festival (occurring annually in August/September) and worldwide celebrations honoring the 125th anniversary of Deutsche Grammophon (Williams' current label as a conductor, following stints with Philips and Sony Classical). The defining non-musical event of the night occurred when Ozawa, accompanied by a daughter and grandson, approached the podium from his wheelchair and joined his old friend to a standing ovation, just a year after Ozawa last led the Saito Kinen Orchestra.

Grammophon in fact intended to announce the album February 9, a day after Williams' 92nd birthday - but of course delayed, after news broke that Ozawa passed away just three days before. With the blessing of Ozawa's family, the news is now public. "I have always said that I would like John to experience the Saito Kinen Orchestra, because I know what he would feel from this special orchestra," reads a posthumous statement from Ozawa.

John Williams in Tokyo is poised to be the latest celebration of a great American composer - and a warm tribute to an equally great one from Japan. It's out May 10 and can be pre-ordered below.

John Williams in Tokyo (Deutsche Grammophon, 2024)

CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Deutsche Grammophon (Gold Vinyl)
2CD/Blu-ray: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

* denotes track only on 2CD edition

1. Sound the Bells! *
2. Tributes (For Seiji)
3. Three Million Light Years from Home (Symphonic Suite from E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial) *
4. Stargazers (Symphonic Suite from E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial) *
5. Flying Theme (Symphonic Suite from E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial) *
6. Superman March (from Superman: The Movie)
7. Hedwig's Theme (from Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone)
8. Fawkes The Phoenix (from Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets)
9. Harry's Wondrous World (from Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone)
10. Theme from Schindler's List
11. The Rebellion is Reborn (from Star Wars: The Last Jedi)
12. Princess Leia's Theme (from Star Wars: A New Hope)
13. The Throne Room & Finale (from Star Wars: A New Hope)
14. Yoda's Theme (from Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back)
15. The Raiders March (from Raiders of The Lost Ark)
16. The Imperial March (from Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back)

All tracks recorded live with The Saito Kinen Orchestra at Suntory Hall, Tokyo, Japan - 9/5/2023. Tracks 1-5 conducted by Stéphane Denève; Tracks 6-17 conducted by John Williams