How To Train Your Dragon – In Concert
Lead Season Sponsor
Saturday, May 30, 2026, 7:30pm
Sunday, May 31, 2:00pm
BOSTON POPS
JASON SEBER conducting
DREAMWORKS ANIMATION PRESENTS
HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON
MUSIC BY
JOHN POWELL
BASED ON THE BOOK BY
CRESSIDA COWELL
SCREENPLAY BY
WILL DAVIES AND DEAN DEBLOIS & CHRIS SANDERS
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS
KRISTINE BELSON
TIM JOHNSON
PRODUCED BY
BONNIE ARNOLD
DIRECTED BY
CHRIS SANDERS & DEAN DEBLOIS
Tonight's program is a presentation of the complete film How To Train Your Dragon with a live performance of the film’s entire score, including music played by the orchestra during the end credits. Out of respect for the musicians and your fellow audience members, please remain seated until the conclusion of the music.
How To Train Your Dragon © 2010 DreamWorks Animation LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Production Credits
How To Train Your Dragon in Concert is produced by Film Concerts Live!, a joint venture of IMG Artists, LLC and The Gorfaine/Schwartz Agency, Inc.
Producers: Steven A. Linder and Jamie Richardson
Director of Operations: Rob Stogsdill
Production Manager: Sophie Greaves
Production Assistant: Katherine Miron
Worldwide Representation: IMG Artists, LLC
Technical Director: Mike Runice
Music Composed by John Powell
Music Preparation: Jo Ann Kane Music Service
Film Preparation for Concert Performance: Ramiro Belgardt, Epilogue Media
Technical Consultant: Laura Gibson
Sound Remixing for Concert Performance: Chace Audio by Deluxe
The score for How To Train Your Dragon has been adapted for live concert performance.
With special thanks to: Universal Pictures, DreamWorks Animation, Bonnie Arnold, Chris Sanders, Dean DeBlois, John Powell, Chris DeFaria, Michael Silver, Patrick Koors, Tammy Olsen, Lawrence Liu, Chuck Nilsen, Mike Pastrano, Thomas Schroder, Tanya Perra, Chris Herzberger, Noah Bergman, Jason Jackowski, Heather Oster, Jen Ockelmann-Wagner, Alex Levy, Mark Graham, Matt Voogt, Bethany Brinton and the musicians and staff of the Boston Pops.
When can I take photos and videos? You are welcome (and encouraged!) to take photos and videos before and after the concert, and at intermission. Symphony Hall makes for a beautiful backdrop! Photos, videos, and audio recordings are strictly prohibited during the performance. At that time, be a great neighbor to your fellow concertgoers, put your phone or camera away, and enjoy the moment!
Guests are expected to drink responsibly. Intoxication will not be tolerated. Intervention with an impaired guest will be handled in a prompt and safe manner, which may include ejection from the premises.
The Boston Pops welcomes:
May 30: Harvard Outings & Innings; Hillside Middle School; McCarthy Middle School; Salem High School Music Department; Shelburne Community School; Thrivant Member Network
May 31: Attleboro High School; Brianna Burrill; Harvard Outings & Innings; Ms. Diana K. Hunt; Timberlane Regional Middle School
Steve Colby, Sound Designer | Pamela Smith, Lighting Designer
The Boston Pops Orchestra may be heard on Boston Pops Recordings, RCA Victor, Sony Classical, and Philips Records.
Steinway & Sons Pianos, selected exclusively for Symphony Hall.
Special thanks to Fidelity Investments, Lead Season Sponsor, and Fairmont Copley Plaza, Official Hotel of the Boston Pops.
New arrangements and works for the Boston Pops are generously supported by the Cecile Higginson Murphy Pops Programming Fund.
Broadcasts of the Boston Pops are heard on 99.5 WCRB.
Programs and artists subject to change.
The BSO’s 2025-26 season is supported in part by the Massachusetts Cultural Council.
Boston Symphony Orchestra, Inc.
Board of Trustees | Board of Advisors | Staff and Administration
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Boston Pops
Led by conductor Keith Lockhart, the Boston Pops, known affectionately as “America’s Orchestra,” performs an exciting and eclectic mix of orchestral arrangements from a wide range of traditions including Broadway and the great American songbook, film music, classical, jazz, pop, country, folk, and, of course, holiday classics. The Pops was created in 1885 as the “light classical” summer season venture of the Boston Symphony. The Boston Pops Orchestra reached its current iconic status during the 50-year tenure of the legendary Arthur Fiedler, who was succeeded in 1980 by the equally renowned film composer John Williams. Keith Lockhart took the helm in 1995. It was Fiedler who started the tradition of Pops performances on the Charles River Esplanade, including the annual Fourth of July celebration, brought the Pops to television with Evening at Pops (1970-2004), and initiated Holiday Pops, which marked its 50th anniversary in 2023. Fiedler welcomed to our stages dynamic, world-class guest artists including Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Julia Child, and Bob Hope. That tradition continues today with Keith Lockhart working with such stars as Brian Stokes Mitchell, The B-52s, Chaka Khan, Nick Jonas, and Rhiannon Giddens. With the Pops, Keith has made 81 television shows, led 45 national and 5 overseas tours, led the Pops at several high-profile sporting events including the Super Bowl, and recorded fourteen albums. Through it all the orchestra has remained of the most recorded, familiar, and beloved ensembles in the world today.
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![Jason Seber standing in front of a brown wall smiling and wearing a blue shirt and dark suit.]()
Jason Seber
Jason Seber is a celebrated conductor known for his versatility leading classical, pops, film, and cross-genre programs. He is committed to making orchestral music accessible, relevant, and engaging for diverse audiences nationwide.
Seber has conducted many leading American orchestras, including the National, St. Louis, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, San Diego, Baltimore, Kansas City, Colorado, Milwaukee, Nashville, Indianapolis, Oregon, North Carolina, Phoenix, and Fairfax symphony orchestras, the Minnesota and Louisville orchestras, the Buffalo Philharmonic, and the Cincinnati Pops, among others.
He has conducted over 30 full feature films and has had the pleasure of performing with a wide range of artists including Boyz II Men, Melissa Etheridge, Leslie Odom, Jr., Trisha Yearwood, Lyle Lovett, Stephen Schwartz, Indigo Girls, Ben Folds, Wynonna Judd, Lindsey Stirling, Violent Femmes, Pink Martini, Natalie Merchant, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Katharine McPhee, Brian Stokes Mitchell, My Morning Jacket, Andrew Bird, Ben Rector, Cody Fry, Patti Austin, Mason Bates, Doc Severinsen, Aoife O’Donovan, Ashley Brown, Susan Egan, and DeVotchKa, among many others.
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![John Powell]()
John Powell
A native of London, Powell was an accomplished violinist as a child, wrote music for commercials out of school, and assisted composer Patrick Doyle in the early 1990s. He moved to the U.S. in 1997, where he worked on numerous projects for Hans Zimmer and his film music company Remote Control. He co-wrote the score for Antz with Harry Gregson-Williams, and quickly became one of the most desirable, versatile, and exciting composers in town.
John Powell was catapulted into the realm of A-list composers by displaying an entirely original voice with his oft-referenced score to the first installment of Matt Damon’s Bourne trilogy, The Bourne Identity, from 2002. He has become the go-to writer for animated family films, scoring such hits as Shrek (co-written with Harry Gregson-Williams), Chicken Run (co-written with Gregson-Williams), Ice Age: The Meltdown, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, Bolt, Rio, Happy Feet, Happy Feet Two, and the two first installments of Kung Fu Panda (co-written with Hans Zimmer). His pulsating action music has provided the fuel for Hancock, Green Zone, Stop Loss, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, and The Italian Job. His music has also sweetened the romance of Two Weeks Notice and P.S. I Love You. In 2006 his music empowered X-Men: The Last Stand and lent gripping, real-time drama to United 93.
His infectious score for How to Train Your Dragon earned him his first Academy Award nomination. Powell has also lent his voice to the score of Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax, Ice Age: Continental Drift, Rio 2, directed by Carlos Saldanha, and DreamWorks’ How to Train Your Dragon 2. His work can be found in Warner Bros.’ Pan starring Hugh Jackman, Universal Pictures’ action thriller Jason Bourne starring Matt Damon, Fox’s Oscar-nominated animated feature Ferdinand, Disney’s highly anticipated Solo: A Star Wars Story, directed by Ron Howard, which gave him the opportunity to collaborate with Maestro John Williams, and the critically acclaimed final installment of DreamWorks Animation’s How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, directed by Dean DeBlois.
In addition to his numerous film scores of all genres, John Powell has also written concert works for choir and orchestra. A selection of these was released on the album Hubris — Choral Works by John Powell, including his deeply moving work A Prussian Requiem.
Boston Pops Major Corporate Sponsors, 2025-26 Season
The Boston Pops and Symphony Hall major corporate sponsorships reflect the increasing importance of alliance between business and the arts. The Boston Pops is honored to be associated with the following companies and gratefully acknowledges their partnership. For information regarding BSO, Boston Pops, and/or Tanglewood sponsorship opportunities, contact Joan Jolley, Director of Corporate Partnerships, at (617) 638-9279 or jjolley@bso.org.