This Saturday night, July 22, The Helena Symphony is throwing a summer evening party of movie music on the lawn of Carroll College and everyone is invited. When it's over, fireworks will burst in the air.

The price is right: free! (Although some paid reserved seats are available.)

I'll admit to more than a bit of bias in inviting you to the festivities because I will be the narrator for an evening of film music.

I'll be the talking head without musical talent who introduces the film scores -- and then I'll have a terrific seat right on stage to hear Maestro Allan R. Scott and the Helena Symphony Orchestra bring the movie music alive.

The first half includes music from "Rocky," "Lawrence of Arabia," "Jaws," "Out of Africa," "The Godfather," and a medley of classic Disney music from films such as "Song of the South," "Cinderella" and "Snow White."

After an intermission, the concert continues with music from "The Magnificent Seven," "Legends of the Fall," "North by Northwest," "The Wizard of Oz," "E.T," "Gone with the Wind" and "Star Wars." The evening concludes with "The 1812 Overture," while fireworks explode over our heads.

Concerts of movie music featuring full symphony orchestras remind us that great film composers need apologize to no one.

The truth is that film music has long been viewed as second-class classical music at best. Many critics would adamantly refuse to call it classical.

There's been a century-long debate about the merits of film music, including a fair amount of snobbery by classical aficionados toward movie music.

For example, movie scores are often criticized as being derivative, dependent and incomplete.

By derivative, critics mean that scores borrow from classical sources, or other film sources.

By dependent, critics mean that the score can't "stand alone" -- it's wedded to the movie images it supports. And by incomplete, critics simply mean it's not an integrated symphonic work with a some sort of progression and conclusion.

These are but three of many arguments against film music.

Of course, all three criticisms have some merit.

Yes, many movies borrow from classical sources. "2001" introduced millions of moviegoers to Richard Strauss and "Barry Lyndon" made exquisite use of "Sarabande" from Handel's Suite No. 11 in D Minor.

Dimitri Tiomkin addressed this derivative critique in his famous 1954 acceptance speech for "The High and the Mighty" which began: "I would very much like to thank Johannes Brahms, Johann Strauss...Beethoven, Schubert, Hayden, Mendelssohn."

Tiomkin knew he never composed alone, but was part of a grand tradition. The Academy howled and applauded in appreciation.

And yes, movie music is often dependent on the film. Isn't that the point? Music is serving an organic purpose. Movie music is not meant to call attention to itself, but to enhance the story and the visuals.

And, finally, it's also true movie music is not (always) symphonic. But there have been a number of classical composers -- Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Sergei Prokofiev, Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland -- who wrote film scores with symphonic integrity. John Williams' "Star Wars" is often praised as returning the symphonic score to popularity.

Bernard Hermann ("North by Northwest") and Max Steiner ("Gone with the Wind") were musical geniuses, working in the film genre with skills rivaling legendary composers.

In fact, composer Ralph Vaughan Williams' 7th symphony, "The Antarctica Symphony," was based on his score for "Scott of the Antarctic." Williams reworked the score into a full orchestral symphony.

Music need not be long and symphonic to be powerful. Memorable musical passages from films resonate as deeply with me as memorable passages from operas.

Like a great line of poetry, great musical passages can outlive the source that gave them birth.

I would ask you to ponder these critiques as you listen to the film music on Saturday night. I think many of the scores provide a musical answer to these critics.

Sure, there are bad scores just as there are bad movies and bad books. But the best of film music can boldly take audiences somewhere they've never gone before.

I would offer the "chill factor" in support of many of the scores -- I get chills as I hear "Lawrence of Arabia," "Out of Africa," "Godfather," "A dream is a wish your heart makes," "Somewhere over the Rainbow," "The Magnificent Seven" and "Gone with the Wind."

The sounds bring back a flood of memories, some rooted in the film, but often they reach beyond the movie into my life. All great music has a mysterious way of tapping into our souls, and for a film lover like me, great film scores connect in many special ways.

Finally, a personal conclusion.

This concert is special for me. I grew up in a projection booth in the Lincoln Theater in Port Angeles, Wash., where my dad worked. I have reviewed movies for 30 years, probably averaging 50 weeks a year for all 30 years.

These nights of movie music, shared with other movie lovers, are very unique opportunities for a writer. For once, a journalist gets to see readers in the flesh! That's rare -- journalism is an oddly lonely enterprise. We write, you read, but seldom do we share an evening.

So I am genuinely excited for Saturday's Symphony Under the Stars at Carroll, where I teach.

The concert is a reprise of the 2004 movie music concert, but this time outdoors. Some of the music is the same, but there are new selections, too, such as "The Magnificent Seven" and the Disney medley.

I have rewritten my introductions to emphasize the films, rather than the composers and the directors -- because we won't be showing clips from the films on a screen this time.

Absent images, my job is to set the scene, to jump start your musical imagination.

I love the outdoor setting and the free admission, because it may bring new people to a symphonic concert. Perhaps they'll be back in the fall for the Symphony season.

So come join the party.

Come early, bring a blanket and pack a picnic dinner. It will be an evening to remember, with movie music cascading up to the Big Sky above us all.

And, hey, it's free! And the fireworks are spectacular!