Project Overview

This project was a reimagining of Carl Theodor Dreyer’s 1928 masterpiece, The Passion of Joan of Arc. Produced by the BSFO, the "Silent Film Opera" brings the power of a live orchestral score to one of the most celebrated silent films. The innovation, a vocal ensemble with lyrics synchronized to the character’s lips, bringing voice to the silent era. The production toured historical theaters across New England, bringing a 20th-century cinematic treasure to life for modern audiences.

The Passion of Joan of Arc: Silent Film Opera

Composer & Conductor | Live Orchestral Performance (BSFO) | 2019

Direction

As both a composer and the conductor for the production, I was responsible for the artistic synthesis of film, music, and orchestration:

  • Operatic Innovation: I co-composed an original score that introduced a novel "vocalized" approach to silent film. Through complex rhythmic and meter techniques, we integrated live singers to perform the characters' dialogue in perfect synchronization with the film's famous close-ups, effectively translating a silent masterpiece into a living opera.

  • Orchestral Leadership: Selecting a premier ensemble of Berklee’s top musicians. My role involved leading rehearsals to master the complex synchronization required to match the film’s high-tension rhythmic structure.

  • Conducting & Performance: I served as one of the conductors for the regional tour, managing the technical challenge of "live-to-picture" conducting. This required maintaining frame-accurate synchronization between the orchestra, and the vocalists.

Outcomes & Impact

  • Critical Acclaim: The production was a major critical success, receiving high praise from The Boston Globe, which noted the "passionate" and transformative nature of the performance, and The Boston Musical Intelligencer, which lauded the innovative "cinematic opera" format.

  • Regional Tour: A successful and entirely sold-out tour through New England’s most celebrated historical movie theaters, reviving interest in silent-era cinema through a contemporary lens.

  • Genre-Bending Success: The project demonstrated a new methodology for film preservation and performance, proving that synchronized live vocals could enhance, rather than distract from, the visual intensity of silent-era acting.