Category: Battlestar Galactica Other

So Say We All

I will never forget the summer of 2009, when my unique band, The BSG Orchestra, rocked out on a crowded stage in San Diego during Comic Con, performing my score for Battlestar Galactica, just months after the epic series finale aired. The venue was bursting with my brilliant musicians, many of the cast, crew, writers, producers, and executives, as well as fans from around the world. Together, we experienced a collective euphoria, because we all loved the show with the same intense passion. After the last encore, the crowd erupted into an unprompted chant of “So Say We All,” a moment that remains one of the most magical and memorable of my life. As the house lights came up and the crowd dissipated, I collapsed into a sweat-soaked heap on the couch in the greenroom and realized that, for the first in my life, I had no new cues for the show to write. Battlestar Galactica had been the most significant part of my life for six years, and now, with this concert complete, it was over.

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Remembering Richard Hatch

RH8

Richard Hatch was my friend. And tonight he is gone.

I first met the dynamic actor, who played Captain Apollo in the original Battlestar Galactica and Tom Zarek in its reincarnation a quarter century later, while I was scoring the new series’ second season. He was the first actor on the show I had the pleasure of meeting, when he interviewed me for a fan website. He quickly put my starstruck nerves at ease with his obvious passion for storytelling. I instantly recognized him as a man for whom art was a spiritual experience. A genuine curiosity about life, music and story radiated from him.

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BSG Piano Book Fan Performances Awards

Last year, I worked with Hal Leonard Publishing to release the “Battlestar Galactica” piano solo sheet music book.  The book contains my own personal piano arrangements of the most memorable and significant cues from the series.  I knew that BSG fans wanted to connect more directly with the score and the piano book gave them the basic DNA to reconstruct the music on their own instruments.

YouTube had already become a forum for fans to post their own performances of my music, even before there was any sheet music released.  So, I was pleased to see a virtual explosion of material pop up on the site after the book was released.  The videos range from the sublime to the ludicrous — some are genuinely skilled performances, others creatively entertaining short films, and everything in between.  A common love of the music of “BSG” threaded through them all.

I began assembling my personal favorites in a special playlist on my new YouTube channel.  And now, I’m presenting my official…  (more…)

EMP BSG Galactibash

This weekend I was honored to take part in the closing celebration of the EMP Science Fiction Hall of Fame’s “Battlestar Galactica: The Exhibition.”  For the past 18 months, the museum has had remarkable memorabilia on display, including two vipers, a cylon raider, costumes and many props from “Battlestar Galactica,” as well as recorded interviews from dozens of the series’ cast and crew.


(photo courtesy of Jill Watson)

For the “Galactibash” last Friday, the EMP invited cast and crew for a QnA panel.  On hand were such alumni as Tahmoh Penikett (“Helo”), Luciana Carro (“Kat”), David Weddle (writer / producer), Bradley Thompson (writer / producer), Michael Nankin (director),  Mark Verheiden (writer / producer), Glenne Campbell (costume designer) and myself. (more…)

BSG Piano Book Videos

My long-awaited “Battlestar Galactica” Piano Music Book is finally available, thanks to Hal Leonard and Universal Music Publishing.  To celebrate the release, I have started an official YouTube Channel for fan-made “BSG” music performances: http://www.youtube.com/bearmccreary

Every two weeks, I will upload a new video of me performing a piece from the “BSG” Piano Music Book, at my own living room piano.  Let’s kick off with one of my favorites, “Prelude to War:”

This channel isn’t just for me.  You are all invited to take part in this “online living room concert.”  If you create a YouTube video of your own “BSG” music performance, I want to feature it.  Just post a link to your video in the comments section in this blog entry, or email it to us at “staff @ bearmccreary .com.”

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