Jaws in Concert with The Metropolitan Orchestra Brisbane

Concert Hall, QPAC Brisbane

22nd November 2025

Dr Gemma Regan

The audience were quaking in their seats as The Metropolitan Orchestra Brisbane immersed them in the shark-infested waters with a faultless delivery of the terrifying iconic soundtrack of Jaws

Jaws In Concert with The Metropolitan Orchestra Brisbane celebrated 50 years since the film’s original release with a live cinematic orchestral experience, immersing the audience of the QPAC Concert Hall in the sheer terror of the score by John Williams for a night to remember.

John Williams is still composing at 93 and is a film-score titan as one of the most award-nominated individuals in history, second only to Walt Disney. He has 52 Oscar nominations and 5 Oscars, 25 Grammys, 4 Golden Globes, 7 BAFTA’s and more than twenty Gold and Platinum records amongst his multitude of accolades. 

His iconic ominous score for Jaws, the massive 1975 summer blockbuster, had 62 million Americans quaking in their seats, afraid to ever swim again, winning him his first Academy Award. Jaws also launched Academy Award-winning director Steven Spielberg’s career after the initial director was fortuitously fired. 

The packed concert hall applauded as conductor Sarah-Grace Williams took to the podium for the fantastic immersive film screening, which totally immerses you in the music for a unique cinematic experience.

The stage was laden with musicians and very cello-heavy to deliver the iconic 2-note motif of terror. Usually, when watching a film, the music is secondary to the event. With a harp and five percussionists plus a large brass section, we were ready to dive into the depths! 

As the massive orchestra launched into the score with the film titles, there was a ripple of anticipation throughout the audience as the infamous theme resonated from within. With live music in the foreground, you are very aware of the impact each emotive note is having on you both physically and mentally.

Spielberg was cunning in using music only at pivotal moments in Jaws, enabling the dialogue to be heard clearly, heightening the realism. There was a lovely camaraderie in the audience, as when the woman stripped and dived into the sea. A man in the audience yelled, "Come back, don’t go in!”, causing a chuckle from all.

There was another big cheer when the shark specialist Hooper (Richard Dreyfus) mentioned how he had to go to Brisbane to study the dangerous sharks, and also when the chief of police Brody (Roy Scheider) delivered the iconic phrase “We’re gonna need a bigger boat!”

With the first shark attack on Amity Island, the orchestra were in full swing with rumbling timpani, blaring horns and screeching strings, amping up the attack to fever pitch. 

As the sea-shy Brody embarks on a small boat, the Orca for the shark-chase of a lifetime with the drunken shark hunter Quint, played convincingly by Robert Shaw and an excited Hooper, the music picks up a notch. The orchestra were playing for most scenes, except for Quint’s famous tale serving on the USS Indianapolis, which the Japanese sunk after delivering components for the atomic bomb.

The audience wowed when, on the big screen, the two shooting stars flew over the boat. Now, a classical signature of Spielberg, which he incorporates into his movies and a subliminal portent of his blockbuster Close Encounters of the Third Kind, which would follow in 1977.

Williams’ hero-motif for Brodie swelled jubilantly when finally Jaws met his demise, and the audience whooped and cheered, such was the effectiveness of the orchestra and the score.

The lighting was also very effective with a soft rippling blue hue throughout the screening, as if the audience were also submerged in the shark-laden water. As the film finished, the hall turned a blood red to amp up the terror from the deep with a promise to shun the shark-infested waters of Brisbane for a while… 

After a pause to digest the moment, there was raucous applause for a fantastic, immersive, memorable once-in-a-lifetime orchestral presentation of Jaws In Concert. The orchestra were incredible, delivering every note with split-second timing thanks to the skills of conductor Sarah-Grace Williams and her visual click-track.  

After fifty years, Jaws is still one of the greatest films in history, and there is no better way to enjoy the iconic, award-winning score than to be immersed deep underwater by a live orchestra.