Hollywood composer Howard Shore teams up with N.B. youth orchestra

What doThe Lord of the Rings, Silence of the Lambs, Gangs of New Yorkand the New Brunswick Youth Orchestra have in common?

It's simple: Academy Award-winning composer Howard Shore.

• From rock bands to film scores to orchestras, Howard Shore is a jack-of-all-trades
• Lord of the Rings composer's latest work pays tribute to opera star

TheToronto-born musician built a stellar career creating some of the most memorable songsin movie history and this yearheteamed up with the NBYOto create a song titledSea to Sea.

Shore was commissioned to help production on the song as part of the Canada 150 celebrations. The song is expected to finally become available on iTunes on Dec. 8.

'We literally spent three weeks composing an email'

"We thought 'let's commission an original piece of music to celebrate Canada's 150th birthday' but at the same time let's see if we can engage an internationally renowned composer," said the youthorchestra's CEO Ken MacLeod.

What a wonderful experience for our young musicians to have that kind of intimate, personal experience with the Lord of the Rings composer.Ken MacLeod

Shore's name was at the top of their list.

MacLeod said they eventuallyfound Shore's personal email through a friend and made apitch to the famous composer to see if he was interested frettingover every single syllable of the pitch to make sure it was just right.

"We literally spent three weeks composing an email because we wanted just to say the right thing to try and grab his attention and his interest," he said.

MacLeod received a phone call from Shore roughly three weeks later. Having the world-renowned composer help the orchestra was wonderful, he said.

Shore spent aday and a half with the orchestra, listening, advising and making recommendations through the recording engineer and conductor to the orchestra members themselves.

"What a wonderful experience for our young musicians to have that kind of intimate, personal experience with the Lord of the Rings composer Howard Shore," he added.

"For them, they consider it a great honour."