Sounds Of Berklee

By Rob Hochschild March 2, 2012 The Berklee Silent Film Orchestra merges the creativity and discipline of film composition and the without-a-net experience of live-to-picture performance. Faculty member Sheldon Mirowitz teaches a course—Scoring Silent Films—in which the Film Scoring Department's best students compose scene-specific cues based on original themes developed by Mirowitz. Intensive work takes place throughout the 15-week semester, continuing with rehearsals with top student musicians and culminating in a public, live-to-picture performance. This episode of Sounds of Berklee features "Rebellion," a piece composed by student Michael Oldham for a section of Sergei Eisenstein's epic 1925 film Battleship Potemkin during which shipmates launch a mutiny. "It is a thrilling part of the film, and great bit of writing," says Mirowitz. "The 10-piece band plays the demanding cue with power, excitement, and precision." The BSFO performs the newly composed score on Friday, March 9, at the Kennedy Center's Ter