Watch Steven Spielberg shock Seattle Symphony crowd with guest conductor John Williams

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Steven Spielberg joins John Williams on stage with the Seattle Symphony at Benaroya Hall in Seattle, Sept. 27 2017. (Seattle Symphony Photo, via Facebook.)

UPDATED below with more background and additional video of Spielberg.

Seattle’s Benaroya Hall was already experiencing a treat Wednesday night as guest conductor John Williams led the Seattle Symphony in selections from the composer’s scores for such films as Star Wars, E.T., Indiana Jones, Schindler’s List and others.

Then came the big surprise: Steven Spielberg, the renowned filmmaker behind many of those iconic movies, walked out on stage to narrate the second half of the performance. Watch the moment in the video below, via the Seattle Symphony.

The reaction seemed to overwhelm even Spielberg. “Oh my God,” he said. “I should move here, after that.” We’ll take you, Mr. Spielberg. Let us know where to submit our response to your HQ2 RFP.

Earlier in the night, selections included “Rey’s Theme” from Star Wars.

Here’s a sampling of the audience reaction from Twitter to Spielberg’s appearance.

UPDATE: Spielberg has appeared with Williams at other performances, including the Atlanta Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Phoenix Symphony, but this was the first time in the Pacific Northwest. Initially, it looked like Spielberg wouldn’t be available last night, but when that changed, the Seattle Symphony decided to make his appearance a surprise, a spokesperson says.

Here’s a video of Spielberg talking about the connection between music and film.

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