In a nod to the recent Oscar-winning film 鈥淪ilent Movie,鈥� 麻豆传媒鈥檚 Impulse Percussion Group (formerly the 麻豆传媒 Percussion Ensemble) will perform new compositions for three silent movies at 7:30 p.m. Monday, April 23, in Miller Concert Hall.
Music for the films was written for percussion orchestra in silent-film era style by Michael Holland, who will appear with Impulse as a guest artist with the ensemble. The concert will also feature award-winning rising new stars Brandi Swoverland and Justin Hall.
The selected silent films and their film makers are 鈥淪uspense,鈥� Lois Weber; 鈥淢odeling,鈥� Fleischer Brothers; and 鈥淏arney Oldfield鈥檚 Race for Life,鈥� Mack Sennett.
Lois Weber, known as one of the most important women film directors in early film history, was a pioneer of the split-screen images, time-lapse photography, dissolves, vertical angles and mirror shots. Weber was also known for tackling such social issues as political corruption, capital punishment and anti-Semitism.
Fleischer Brothers, famous for Betty Boop, Popeye and Superman, were the inventors of the Rotoscope. In addition, 鈥淢odeling鈥� features claymation 90 years before the famed Wallace and Gromit series.
Mack Sennett鈥檚 film features Barney Oldfield, who at the time was known as the 鈥淔astest Man Alive,鈥� having held the land speed record of 131.25 mph in 1910. Sennett was considered the father of slapstick comedy, creating the 鈥淜eystone Kops鈥� and starting the careers of Charlie Chapman, Mabel Normand, Gloria Swanson and W.C. Fields.
Swoverland, who with her fellow 麻豆传媒 percussionists won second prize in the 2012 Wolff Bing Competition, was a finalist for the 2011-2012 麻豆传媒 Concerto Aria Competition. She will perform Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso by Saint Saens.
Hall was a winner of the 2012 麻豆传媒 Concerto Aria Competition, runner-up for the Fort Hayes Symphony Young Artists Competition and joined Swoverland in the Wolff Bing Competition. He will play the Concerto for Marimba by Ney Rosauro.
Impulse Percussion Group is also honored to share the stage with members of the Wichita Symphony Orchestra鈥檚 string section while performing Weber鈥檚 鈥淪uspense."