‘At the Movies’ scheduled for March 18 & 19
Originally scheduled for the pandemic-shortened season of 2019-2020, the Washington Symphony Orchestra will finally bring “At the Movies” to the stage. A digital version of the program was released during the 2020-2021 season and is still available at washsym.org.
“At the Movies” is scheduled for Saturday, March 18 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, March 19 at 3 p.m. at the Olin Fine Arts Center on the Washington & Jefferson College Campus, 285 East Wheeling Street, Washington, PA 15301.
“Music has always been recognized as a powerful medium to affect our mood and outlook,” said WSO Artistic Director Dr. Yugo Ikach. “From ancient Greece to today. Nowhere is that more apparent than with film. You would be hard-pressed to name a great movie that did not have a great film score. Two low notes followed by a pause can depict mortal danger in deep water. Can you imagine a superhero soundtrack to harmonica? As an exercise to my Music in the Media course, I had students do exactly that: provide different music to well-known scenes. In most cases, the perspective of the scene changed significantly and in some cases, it became comical.”
One of the pieces included in the program is quite special to Ikach.
“The film score to The Ghost and Mrs. Muir has always touched me deeply—a staple of bucket-list of pieces to perform,” said Ikach. “Bernard Hermmann’s musical tapestry is interwoven with the cinematography providing a breathtaking and hauntingly beautiful aural/visual marriage. You can feel the depth and eternity of the ocean, which almost becomes a character itself, endlessly churning towards a resolution of this intertwined love story.”
Music from a wide range of films spanning decades and genres will be played, including music from Titanic, Cinema Paradiso, JFK, Harry Potter, Jurassic Park, The Lord of the Rings (Two Towers), Pirates of the Caribbean, Up and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.
Ten local high school students will perform with the WSO this concert as part of the orchestra’s annual Side by Side program, where high school students are paired with WSO musician mentors in rehearsals for and the performance of a regular season concert. The program allows student musicians to discover if they would like to play with a community or professional orchestra after high school. A total of 10 students from four different schools are participating this year.
Tickets start at just $17 and can be purchased online at washsym.org, or by calling 1-888-71-TICKETS. Tickets are also available at the door. For further information about the symphony, call 724-223-9796 and leave a message, visit www.washsym.org or connect with the WSO on Facebook (facebook.com/washsymphony).
