A Night at the Movies

On Thursday evening, April 23rd, 2009 I made my way over to Hardie Auditorium to see the Rhodes Orchestra’s closing performance of the semester. I was already excited because I knew from all of the fliers around campus that they were going to play soundtracks from some of my favorite cult classics! The set up was obviously planned very carefully as the orchestra director, Professor Montelione, had a limited space to work with. The orchestra filled the entire stage plus a good deal of floor space, and there were enough chairs for about two hundred people (and about that many people came to see this performance).
One of the coolest things about the concert were the two screens which displayed a montage of pictures or live action clips from each movie to go along with the music the orchestra played. The concert featured some music from “West Side Story”, Pirates of the Caribbean “The Curse of the Black Pearl”, “Civil War”, Star Wars and Indiana Jones. It’s clear that everyone in the orchestra has been working very hard this semester to present this concert and I have to say, their hard work definitely paid off! They sounded just as good as some cd recordings I have of these very soundtracks. That evening was a thoroughly enjoyable aural and visual experience for me, as well as everyone else in the audience (we were all transfixed by the mixture of beautiful music and exciting movie clips). It was the best-attended orchestra event I’ve ever been to!
Hopefully more orchestra concerts will be as innovative as this! Who knows, the orchestra could acquire an avid fan base that rivals the Woolsocks! There won’t be any more concerts this semester, but if you’re itching to hear more student music, come to the Rhodes chamber music concert on Monday April 27th at 7:30 pm in Tuthill Auditorium, Hassell Hall.


- Brigid Hannon