From Hermit Club to Hollywood!

1629 Dodge Court,Cleveland OH 44114

13 February, 2022

Description

The kickoff concert of the first ever Cleveland Silent Film Festival ~ celebrating the music of J.S. Zamecnik; film music pioneer! Join us for the kickoff event of the first-ever Cleveland Silent Film Festival! We begin with a concert celebrating the music of J.S. Zamecnik, film music pioneer, Cleveland native, and protégé of renowned Czech composer Antonín Dvořák. The program includes Zamecnik chamber works written during studies with Dvořák in Prague, colorful highlights from Zamecnik’s photoplay music you’ll be able to hear accompanying scenes in Sunrise at the Cinematheque, as well as a masterwork from Dvořák’s American period. The concert will take place at the Hermit Club theater in Playhouse Square, the venue where Zamecnik began his theater music career as the music director of The Hermit Club Orchestra. Performers include Members of the Cleveland Orchestra along with Rodney Sauer, music director of The Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra, an ensemble that specializes in the interpretation of historic film scores. For more information on the Festival & Symposium click here. Cleveland-born composer John Stephan Zamecnik (1872–1953) studied in Prague with Antonín Dvořák, then conducted shows at Cleveland’s legendary Hippodrome Theater and musical revues at the Hermit Club before becoming one of America’s most sought-after composers of silent film music. Wings, for which he provided the score, was the first movie ever to be awarded the Oscar for Best Picture. Today Zamecnik [ZAM-ish-nick] is considered a path-breaking figure in the history of film scoring. The renowned five-member Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra are the featured guests in a week-long festival celebrating Zamecnik’s remarkable career that kicks off with a concert of his chamber music by members of the Cleveland Orchestra and includes screenings in Cleveland and Oberlin, with live accompaniment, of silent classics scored by Zamecnik. The composer is one of the forgotten figures being celebrated in a year-long celebration of Cleveland Past Masters initiated by Cleveland Arts Prize, in which area institutions (highlighted in color below) are finding imaginative ways to participate. Mont Alto’s director and chief arranger, Rodney Sauer, will work with Oberlin Conservatory students enrolled in a Winter Term class on the art of finding, choosing, arranging and performing historic silent movie music. Sauer, who will also lead a workshop at the Cleveland Institute of Music, will be the featured speaker at a colloquium at Case Western Reserve University on the art of mating music to the silence on the screen. COVID-19 Policy Guests will be required to show proof of full Covid-19 vaccination (two doses, plus a booster, per CDC guidelines) of a World Health Organization (WHO) or U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved or authorized vaccine, with the primary dose of vaccination completed at least two weeks prior to the performance date. Guests who are unable to be vaccinated or have not received their booster dose will be required to provide proof of a negative Covid test. Audience members who cannot be vaccinated may provide proof of a negative test result received from a completed lab-certified antigen COVID-19 test within 24 hours prior to the event, or a negative test result received from a completed PCR COVID-19 test within 72 hours. Masks will be required at all times.