Talkies Community Cinema, Haringey Young Musicians and Heartlands High School present one of 100 international screenings of an iconic WW1 silent film with live orchestral score as part of a commemorative year for the Battle of the Somme.
Somme100 FILM is an international project, working with The Imperial War Museums (IWM) as part of the First World War Centenary Partnership to mark the anniversary of the Battle of the Somme. The project aims to bring together 100 live orchestral performances of the iconic 1916 film The Battle of the Somme with composer Laura Rossi’s acclaimed score, commissioned by the Imperial War Museums.
The film will be shown on 22 March at Heartlands High School in Wood Green, accompanied by the Haringey Young Musicians Orchestra.
Peter Desmond, Head of Haringey Music Service, says “This is an exciting venture for Haringey Young Musicians to experience playing along to a historically important film. We are delighted that composer Laura Rossi will introduce the film and her musical score. This event launches a wider-reaching project over the next 6 months, exploring the wider historical and ethical themes focused on new compositions, music for film and links to World War 1.Schools are engaging with the project and the Haringey Young Musicians Big Band will be visiting the battlefields at Ypres in July 2017 along with students from The Vale special school to perform a piece of musical theatre written by them to commemorate a young soldier from Tottenham who died in the Battle of Passchendaele.
Simon Garrill, Executive Headteacher of Heartlands High School, says “ This is a wonderful opportunity for our school to host students from across the borough, coming together to commemorate not only those that fell in this famous battle but to the human cost of all wars”.
Talkies’ community cinema founder, and former Haringey schools inspector, David Williamson, says “I am very excited to bring this event to Heartlands High School and once again connect with the amazing talent in Haringey schools. Haringey has a long tradition of outstanding music education. It is wonderful that the event will inspire new generations to look back and learn from such tragic world events and interpret them anew through their creative work”.
For more information and to buy tickets, visit the Talkies website (external link)