Michael Oldham, "Rebellion" (Berklee Silent Film Orchestra)

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 Terrace Theater, in Washington, D.C.