If you are a composer, or aspire to be one, and want to learn from the best in the film music industry, the Hollywood Music Workshop has been the place to be for more than 15 years. Founded by Dimitrie J. Leivici, a highly regarded violinist whose playing you can hear on many scores recorded in Hollywood, the workshop has been held every summer in or near Vienna, Austria. While Leivici is still involved with the workshop, Michiel de Boer has taken over its organization. I attended two days of this workshop in 2023, about which I wrote a report. This year a huge change was introduced, as De Boer moved the workshop from Austria to The Hague in the Netherlands, specifically to the iconic Kurhaus hotel on Scheveningen beach, and renamed it to Hollywood Music Workshop – The New Generation. I’m now also personally involved with the workshop, helping out behind the scenes. This means, to be completely transparent, that this report may be a bit biased.
From August 17 to 27, people could not only participate in three courses but also attend two film music concerts in the Kurhaus.
The courses
The courses were, naturally, what Hollywood Music Workshop is all about. Over the course of just a few days, participants could have intense, intimate interactions with their instructors, who have many years of experience writing soundtracks. I’m not a composer, and I even picked up a lot of useful information. Unfortunately I can’t share most of the details, since much of what was said was confidential, so I will have to keep it general.
Austin Wintory – Composing for Video Games
Austin Wintory is someone who does not really need an introduction, because he is a highly successful veteran composer for video games. In his course, he took a deep dive into his thought process for writing game music. Since every game is different, a different musical approach is needed. The highlight for me was when he played through the first half of Journey, explaining his musical choices as he traversed that world.
He also shared details about his work outside composing, such as managing a project’s costs. His course was very dynamic in the sense that he let the participants decide what to discuss. At their request, they had sent Wintory some of their music,and he gave feedback on it. Everyone was enjoying it enough that the course ran two and a half hours past its scheduled 6 PM endtime.
Conrad Pope – Orchestration from Golden Age till Present Day
I was looking forward to attending Conrad Pope’s course again, after visiting Hollywood Music Workshop back in 2023. A lot of people who are film music enthusiasts have no idea who Pope is or what he has contributed, but he has been a true force in the shadows as an orchestrator for almost all well-known, high-profile composers, like Alexandre Desplat, Alan Silvestri, Howard Shore, James Horner, and even the great John Williams.
During his course, he went into great detail about orchestrating, how he works – still with pencil and paper – and giving examples of working with many composers. Sometimes he talked about “sculpting” a score, where he was given a simple musical phrase and had to build a full orchestration from it, and other times about “painting,” where the starting material was almost complete and simply had to be made to work for an orchestra. Details that were discussed, for example, were when to use only two French horns and when to use six. He also gave examples of rare occasions when a bassoon would be useful.
With his long career, working with many composers, Pope has a lot of inside knowledge. I heard many fantastic stories and got answers to questions I’d had for years. Frustratingly, I cannot share those. However, this is a good reason to take this course if you want to be more successful as a composer who orchestrates his own music, or if you want to be a better orchestrator. In just a few days, you will learn things that remain useful for the rest of your career.
Adam Lukas – Composing
The third and final course of the workshop this year was taught by Adam Lukas, who has been part of Hans Zimmer’s Bleeding Fingers team and has composed alongside him on several projects. Unfortunately, I missed the first two days of this three-day course, so I can only share what the participants learned on the last day. They chose one of three short scenes for which Lukas had composed the original music, and they had several hours to create their own soundtrack. During this time, Lukas walked around, listened to the rough versions and gave them compliments, advice and suggestions for improvement. In the last hour of the course, everyone listened to each other’s work and talked about them. It was quite interesting to hear all these musical variations for the same scene. The whole day was pretty informative, even for me.
The concerts
When the workshop was held in Austria, film music concerts were part of the program too. Now that the workshop has moved to the Netherlands, De Boer took it one step further by teaming up with Robert Townson Productions. Robert Townson is a veteran producer of film music concerts, so having him in the Netherlands for two concerts is quite a treat.
Cinema MORRICONE – An intimate celebration
The first concert was – as the title suggests – an intimate experience with music from Ennio Morricone. On the stage in the massive, gorgeous lobby of the Kurhaus, Simone Pedroni played piano, and Sara Andon played a wide range of flutes. I saw the two, along with cellist Cecilia Tsan, perform in Krakow in 2024. I really loved this Morricone concert more than the concert in Krakow. I wasn’t sure why, until a friend pointed out how well Morricone’s music suits such a small setting.
The program featured music from different films, some very well known and others less so. The piano is a versatile instrument, capable of playing all kinds of sounds and emotions; the flute is less so, but when Sara Andon performs, it becomes a different story. She can switch effortlessly from piccolo to bass flute and make other sounds with them, like flutter-tonguing for pieces like “The Man with the Harmonica.” The concert, hosted by Townson, was a fantastic celebration of Morricone’s music.
Concert information
Where: Grand Hotel Amrâth Kurhaus Scheveningen in The Hague, the Netherlands
When: August 19, 2026
Performers: Sara Andon on flute, Simone Pedroni on piano
Producer and host: Robert Townson
Program
- Once Upon a Time in The West: “Theme”, “Farewell to Cheyenne”, “The Man with The Harmonica”
- The Legend of 1900: “Playing Love”
- Cinema Paradiso: “Cinema Paradiso”, “Childhood and Manhood”, “Love Theme”
- Fateless: “Return to Life”
- I Guardiani Del Cielo: “Theme”
- The Mission: “Brothers”, “Climb”, “The Falls”, “Gabriel’s Oboe”, “Remorse”, “On Earth as It Is in Heaven”
Intermission
- Giù la Testa (A Fistful of Dynamite): “Theme”
- Days of Heaven: “Harvest”, “Happiness”, “Days of Heaven”, “Threshing”
- Once Upon a Time in America: “Main Theme”, “Poverty”, “Cockeye’s Song”, “Deborah’s Theme”
- The Untouchables: “Ness and His Family”, “Al Capone”, “Death Theme”, “The Untouchables”
- The Secret of the Sahara: “Sahara Dream” (encore)
- The Good, The Bad and The Ugly: “The Ecstasy of Gold” (encore)
Hollywood Love Stories – Songs of Passion
The second concert focused on love in film music. On stage was the Hollywood Music Orchestra, formed especially for the occasion from young, talented musicians, conducted by workshop director Michiel de Boer and course instructor Conrad Pope. Sara Andon returned as the evening’s main soloist, but Simone Pedroni also sat at the piano for a couple of cues. The program featured all kinds of romantic pieces from movies like Love Actually, Beauty and the Beast, Titanic and many more. My favorite piece of the night was from The Last of the Mohicans, beautifully performed by the orchestra, especially the string section, which had to keep repeating the same pattern without making it sound dull.
It was a concert with high-quality film music, which I am only used to hearing outside of the Netherlands. To have such an event here was a privilege, and I want to thank Robert Townson, Michiel de Boer and Dimitrie J. Leivici for bringing this outstanding music to my country.
Concert information
Where: Grand Hotel Amrâth Kurhaus Scheveningen in The Hague, the Netherlands
When: August 20, 2026
Orchestra: Hollywood Music Orchestra conducted by Conrad Pope and Michiel de Boer
Soloists: Sara Andon on flute, Simone Pedroni on piano
Host: Robert Townson
Producers: Robert Townson, Michiel de Boer and Dimitrie J. Leivici
Program
- Hollywood Love Songs Overture
- “The Way We Were”, “When Harry Met Sally (It Had To Be You)”, “An Affair To Remember (Our Love Affair)”, “The Lion King (Can You Feel The Love Tonight)”, “An American Tail (Somewhere Out There)”
- Nino Rota – Romeo and Juliet: “Suite”
- Ennio Morricone/Andrea Morricone – Cinema Paradiso: “Main Theme”, “Love Theme”
- Glen Hansard, Markéta Irglová – Once: “Falling Slowly”
- Alan Menken – Beauty and The Beast
- Luis Bacalov – Il Postino: “Love Theme”
- Stephen Warbeck – Shakespeare in Love
- James Horner – Titanic: “Rose”
Intermission
- John Barry – Out Of Africa: “Suite”
- Trevor Jones – The Last of The Mohicans
- Craig Armstrong – Love Actually: “Glasgow Love Theme”
- John Barry – Somewhere in Time
- Dave Grusin – On Golden Pond
- Jerry Goldsmith – Chinatown
- Alex North – Ghost: “Unchained Melody”
- Michael Kamen – Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves: “Love Theme”
- Henry Mancini – Breakfast At Tiffany’s: “Moon River” (encore)
- James Horner – Titanic: “The Portrait Piano Solo” (encore)
- Solo: Simone Pedroni
Conclusion
I really liked the workshop back in 2023, even though I was only there for a couple of days, during which I attended a great concert and heard wonderful stories from Conrad Pope. Now that it has moved to the Netherlands, I got to see the whole event. If you want to compose or orchestrate for film, TV and games, attending this workshop is a must. In just a handful of days, you will come away with a great deal you did not know before.
With these concerts, this workshop is an outstanding experience for film music enthusiasts as well. Especially in the Kurhaus, a building many Dutch people know but have never seen on the inside. The Hollywood Music Workshop is the place to be, in a wonderful location, to learn important skills in composing and orchestrating music and to listen to fantastic film music concerts. I am proud to finally have such an important film music event here, and that I can play a part in it.
