John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932) is an American composer, conductor and pianist. In a career that spans six decades, Williams has composed many of the most famous film scores in history, including those for Jaws, Star Wars, Superman, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Jurassic Park, Schindler's List, and Harry Potter. In addition, he has composed theme music for four Olympic Games, numerous television series and concert pieces. He served as the principal conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra from 1980 to 1993, and is now the orchestra's laureate conductor. Williams is a five-time winner of the Academy Award. With 45 Academy Award nominations, Williams and Alfred Newman are the second-most nominated individuals after Walt Disney. He was a recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors in 2004.

This is really an extraordinary recording. I would say its one of the best new recordings I've heard in quite some time. Turovsky's performance on the Bloch "Prayer" is about as good of cello playing as one is likely to hear. I was also impressed with the Prokofiev; usually, I rather dislike Prokofiev but this piece is excellent. I would recommend this CD to anyone (Jeremy Heaven).

Schindler's List is a multiple Academy Award-winning 1993 film based on the book Schindler's Ark by Thomas Keneally. The movie, adapted by Steven Zaillian and directed by Steven Spielberg, relates the tale of Oskar Schindler, a Sudeten-German Catholic businessman who was instrumental in saving the lives of over one thousand Polish Jews during the Final Solution. The title refers to a list of the names of 1,100 Jews whom Schindler hired to work in his factory and kept from being sent to the Nazi concentration camps.