Howard Shore has an 800-pound gorilla on his back that's cancelling his trip to Des Moines. Shore, an Academy Award-winning composer, was scheduled to conduct the Des Moines Symphony's performance of the "Lord of the Rings Symphony." But he is tied up with his latest film project, "King Kong," and won't be conducting any of the other 20 dates the "Rings" symphony is scheduled to be performed around the country in the coming months, according to his agent. Guest conducting in Shore's place will be Munich native Markus Huber, a chief conductor in Bulgaria and guest conductor of a variety of orchestras in Germany. [More]