Composer Danny Elfman may best be known for his work on cult classics like Batman, Good Will Hunting, Edward Scissorhands and The Nightmare Before Christmas. But at the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra’s annual gala and fundraiser on Saturday, the industry titan was given a special nod for his prolific body of work both on and beyond the screen as the evening’s honoree.

That Elfman’s pieces have honored both the legacy of film and classical composition was a complement to LACO itself, which was formed in 1968 to encourage classically trained studio musicians not to “drift too far away from the classical repertoire, the concert hall and recording and playing new concert music from contemporary composers,” previous gala honoree and composer James Newton Howard (The Fugitive, My Best Friend’s Wedding, Hunger Games) said in remarks ahead of presenting Elfman with the award.

“Of course, I knew and admired Danny’s work — that he had scored more than 100 movies, that he had had a very successful band in the 1980s and that he’d written a really good violin concerto. What I didn’t realize was how much concert music Danny has written,” Howard said, listing off pieces like Elfman’s cello concerto and symphonic “Serenada Schizophrana” before quipping that Elfman was a “composer who also writes film scores.”

In accepting the honor, Elfman said he was happy to see more film composers creating concert music. “I don’t know about James, but for me, it’s really hard,” Elfman said. “Every time I do it, I tell myself I’ll never do it again. But seven years ago, I made a commitment to myself that I would do one concert piece per year and, so far, I’m on course — seven commissions in seven years.”

To that end, Elfman’s latest work — a suite for chamber orchestra co-commission by the Library of Congress, the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland and LACO — will have its west coast premiere in December with LACO as part of the 2023-24 season.

Taking place ahead of the Grammys on Feb. 4 at the Beverly Wilshire hotel ballroom, the gala — which raised half-a-million dollars for the orchestra and its education initiatives — featured a pared-down chamber orchestra performing arrangements of three of Elfman’s concert pieces, including select movements from his piano quartet and violin concerto, Eleven Eleven. Earlier in the evening, LACO musicians accompanied violinist Joshua Bell and soprano Larisa Martinez for works by Bach and Mendelssohn.

Gala attendees included songwriter Mike Stoller (of songwriting duo Leiber & Stoller behind Elvis’ “Jailhouse Rock,” “Hound Dog”), jazz artist and Billie Holiday’s pianist Corky Hale, NCIS composer Brian Kirk and California State Sen. Ben Allen, among others.