Freddie Mercury is a musical genius. If you ever doubt that fact go watch Highlander and enjoy a fantastic film that is made nigh classic by its soundtrack from Mercury’s band Queen. His loss ranks amongst the most tragic music industry passings, and he remains an icon to this day.

Bear McCreary, composer of such classic TV shows as Battlestar Galactica and The Walking Dead, has teamed up with his brother Brendon and Metalacolypse creator Brendon Small to honor the late rock icon. In a tribute show benefiting the AIDS Project LA the three musicians will take the stage together and put on a show.

There are often really cool things to do when you live in Los Angeles, but I have to say this event might out do them all. I implore anyone and everyone who lives in the LA area to check this out. Not only are you assured of getting a great show, but you also are contributing to a worthy cause. My fingers are crossed that they rock out to an epic version of Princes of the Universe.

Full details on the event after the jump.

Last week we looked at a new arrangement for a classic score, this week we are again taking a look at another new take on some familiar tunes. Unlike The Lord of the Rings Symphony, which was basically an awesome mix-tape of Shore’s scores, The Music of Battlestar Galactica for Solo Piano is a complete re-imagining of the music from the series.

The tracks on this 2-disc set are all arranged by McCreary and performed by talented Korean pianist Joohyun Park, who brings a new perspective to the music. The songs were all originally written for large orchestras, but the these arrangements and  Joohyun Park’s expert performance take these tracks to a new and interesting place.

Conceptually I love the concept of taking popular orchestral scores and arranging them for solo piano. Not only is it often very pleasant to listen too, but it also encourages people to show interesting in playing and eventually making music themselves. If one person, with practice and time, can play film and TV music all by themselves, you drastically increase the likelihood new talent will choose the life of a multimedia composer.

Bear McCreary, best known for his Emmy -nominated TV composing work, has been commissioned by NASA to write an original fanfare commemorating the final Space Shuttle launch. A recent press release unveiled the plans:

“After composing four seasons of music for a television show set in space, creating music inspired by a historic NASA mission was a natural fit. The composition will be played first on Friday morning at the NASA launch TweetUp. People viewing the launch from some of the other locations at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida will also be able to hear the composition.”

Bear is best known for his work on the hit Sci-Fi show Battlestar Galactica, but has written for multiple shows over the last few years. One of his recent highlights include the show Human Target, which earned him his most recent Emmy nomination.

McCreary is an interesting choice for NASA, being a TV composer he is not all that well known and their is a history of people of John Williams-caliber writing music specific for events. That said, being familiar with his work I can assure you all that McCreary is an inspired choice, and I for one can’t wait to hear it.

Fox has got quite a big month ahead of them. Between the return of 24 and American Idol, those shows alone should make the network a number one contender for ratings this spring. They also may be getting some help from a new show based on, of all things, a comic book.

The new series in question is Human Target starring Mark Valley (Boston Legal), Chi McBride (Pushing Daisies), and Jackie Earl Haley (Watchmen). It’s based on the DC Comics character, who assumes the identity of potential assassination victims and takes out their would-be killers before they get the chance to off their target.

The series is making quite a lot of noise among the TV and comic community, and all of that noise seems to be positive. With director Simon West (Con Air, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider) at the helm and composer Bear McCreary (Battlestar Galacitca) doing the score, this could turn out to be an amazing project or a colossal flop.

Either way, we’ve got a few clips to get you excited for the pilot, which airs on Sunday, January 17th opposite the Golden Globes (not smart). The pilot even guest stars fan favorite Tricia Helfer, which should get some fanboys interested.

Check out the clips after the jump.