Howard Shore's is one of today’s most prolific and accomplished composers - his compositions are performed in concert halls around the world by the most prestigious orchestras & his numerous film scores are heard in cinemas across the globe. Most renowned for his score for the ‘The Lord of the Rings’ trilogy & 'The Hobbit’ series, these scores have garnered him three Academy Awards, four Grammy Awards, two Golden Globes, as well as numerous critics’ and festival Awards. Ruin & Memory: This piano concerto was written for Lang Lang in 2010 for Chopin’s 200th anniversary year & was commissioned by the Beijing Music Festival Arts Foundation & artistically supported by Long Yu, Chairman of the Artistic Committee of the Beijing Music Festival. The concerto has romantic touches, including a cadenza in the third movement, but its musical forces owe much to the classical era. Mythic Gardens: This Concerto for Violoncello & Orchestra (2012) was written for Sophie Shao & sits as a companion piece to ‘Ruin & Memory’. Sophie Shao is the winner of the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant & top prizes at the Rostropovich and Tchaikovsky competitions in recent years. Shore was inspired when writing this piece by the architecture of three classic Italian Gardens: Cimbrone, Medici and Visconti Borromeo Litta. It is commissioned by the American Symphony Orchestra & funded by a generous gift from Linda and Stuart Nelson.