HAPPENING 20–21 MAR '26 | Oscar-winning composer Alexandre Desplat will conduct the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra for the first time in his career, leading two evenings of his own film music at De Doelen on 20 and 21 March. The concerts promise a full programme of recognisable scores, performed under the composer’s own baton.
Desplat’s music has already been played by the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra before, but this time the focus shifts. You are not only hearing the work, you are seeing how the composer shapes it in the room, with tempo, colour, and the small choices that can change the emotional weight of a scene, even without the film on screen.
A rare chance to hear the composer’s own interpretation
Desplat is one of the most prominent film composers of the past two decades. The press release states he received thirteen Academy Award nominations for Best Original Score during that period, and won two Oscars, for The Grand Budapest Hotel and The Shape of Water.
It also notes that he is currently nominated for Best Original Score for the Netflix film Frankenstein, alongside a career that includes Golden Globes and Grammy Awards.
From high-pressure deadlines to concert hall detail
The programme is framed as a window into how film music works as a craft. The press release describes Desplat as unusually fast and precise, often writing complete scores in just a few weeks, under high pressure, while insisting on artistic freedom.
The idea of film music as a “language of emotion” (taal van emotie) sits at the heart of these concerts. Even without the images, the music is meant to carry story, atmosphere, and character, and Rotterdam gets to hear that language spoken by the composer himself.
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What you will hear on the night
A selection of titles listed for the concerts includes:
- The Tree of Life
- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
- The Queen / The King’s Speech (Suite Royale)
- Wes Anderson suite (Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The French Dispatch)
- The Shape of Water
- Little Women
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
- The Imitation Game
- Godzilla
- The Ghost Writer
If you have ever left a cinema with a melody still stuck in your head, this is the kind of evening that explains why. You get to follow those themes across different films and styles, and hear how Desplat moves between intimacy, tension, elegance, and punch.
Concert details in Rotterdam
Concert: Desplat conducts his film music
Dates: Friday 20 March and Saturday 21 March 2026
Start time: 20:15
Venue: De Doelen, Rotterdam
Duration: around 2 hours
Tickets: €19 to €90.50
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How to get there
De Doelen sits right in the centre, next to Rotterdam Centraal and the Weena corridor, so you can get there easily by train, metro, tram, or a short cycle. If you are coming from elsewhere in the city, this is one of the simplest evening venues to reach without thinking too hard about connections, and it also makes a late trip home feel manageable.
