Live Music For Classic Silent Film
“Audience members of all ages were spellbound by the film and Leslie's live music from beginning to end. At the end of the screening there was very enthusiastic applause—and I don't know when I've seen so many wide smiles in our lobby after an event. This was really a treat.”
Mark Murphy, Executive Director
Roy & Edna Disney/CalArts Theater
Leslie premiered her original film score for the 1924 silent film gem “Peter Pan” in three live performances at Seattle’s Northwest Film Forum in May 2007. Since then, she has been featured at the opening weekend of the REDCAT International Children’s Film Festival, performed as the closing event for the Astoria International Film Festival, and accompanied Peter Pan on the big screen at the Vashon Theatre and Tacoma Public Library in Washington State, the Noble Theatre at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, and the Brown Auditorium Theatre, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. In 2009, Leslie and her original scores performed live with silent classic film screenings were accepted to the juried 4Culture Touring Arts Roster. Leslie performed her latest work live at NWFF in Seattle in February 2011—a newly commissioned score for “A Little Princess” as part of Children’s Film Festival Seattle.
To see this video on YouTube, click here.
To see a sample of Leslie's live harp performance with a silent film screening, click here
http://www.sonicbids.com , and click the VIDEO button.
"With three different kinds of harps, McMichael creates a soundscape that is both varied in texture and tone, alternating between the various sounds with cinematic panache. Her score shifts between a distinctly Irish rogue for Hook and his men, and Celtic soothsaying arpeggios for Peter, Wendy, and their families. The mermaids ... are given the lush, grainy sound of an electric harp, their glistening tail fins perfectly matching the shimmering, unorthodox sound that in effect is more like a pedal steel than anything else ... It’s hard to imagine what the more standard musical accompaniment would have been, now with the harp washing over all the sepia-toned images."
Ali Marcus, Rivet Magazine
"Live music gives new life to this amazing 1924 classic version of "Peter Pan," lovingly restored after having been "misplaced" for over 70 years. Renowned harpist Leslie McMichael composed the new score for the Herbert Brenon black and white masterpiece."
REDCAT International Children's Film Festival, Los Angeles
"Leslie's score, though traditional in many ways and entirely faithful to the film, is filled with razzle-dazzle and a sly mischief that is the perfect complement to Peter Pan's onscreen antics. Her meticulous and heartfelt performance is not only a tremendous musical accomplishment; it is also an athletic feat as she seamlessly switches back and forth between Celtic, electric and concert harps during the 102 minute film."
Liz Shepherd, Northwest Film Forum, Seattle
"Guess he never did grow up: This "Peter" is 83 and counting ... Northwest Film Forum has a charmer of an event: screenings of the 1924 silent film "Peter Pan," with Betty Bronson as Peter, Anna May Wong as Tiger Lily and Ernest Torrence as Captain Hook (and) harpist Leslie McMichael providing live musical accompaniment."
Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times
"This weekend’s screening of the 1924 silent PETER PAN is sure to be enjoyed by adult and child audiences alike. At all 7 pm screenings, Vashon-based harpist Leslie McMichael will be here to perform her new score and the woman is bringing THREE harps! We’re still trying to figure out how it is all going to fit."
Hotsplice, a blog about cinema