Orlando Consort Premieres Medieval Score for Dreyer's PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC Film Tonight

With radiant harmonies and cascading polyphony, early music has beguiled Miller audiences since the theater's founding. Today's masters of period performance bring this ancient music to life, each employing their own signature style. This season, the Orlando Consort present a thrilling new project: Carl Theodor Dreyer's classic silent film LA PASSION DE JEANNE D'ARC (THE PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC), accompanied by a live score of medieval music. We'll also hear from returning favorites The Tallis Scholars, Le Poème Harmonique, and New York Polyphony, while the Belgian ensemble Vox Luminis make their Miller debut.

It's all set for tonight, October 14, 2015, 8:00 p.m. and Friday, October 16, 2015, 8:00 p.m. at Miller Theatre (2960 Broadway at 116th Street). Tickets: $35-$50; Students with valid ID: $7-$30. Go to www.millertheatre.com/events/the-passion-of-joan-of-arc-10-14 or www.millertheatre.com/events/passion-of-joan-of-arc-10-16 for more information.

From Miller Theatre Executive Director Melissa Smey: "Right on the heels of Run Time Error comes The Passion of Joan of Arc, another multisensory piece in a season that's pushing Miller Theatre beyond what we've done before. I've loved watching the Orlando Consort develop this project, and I'm so excited to bring it to our audiences. I am blown away by the artistry of this film, and the contours and highlights that Donald Greig brings with his repertoire selections are masterful. He and the Orlando Consort have done a beautiful job crafting a score to accompany this truly epic silent film."

The Passion of Joan of Arc

Wednesday, October 14, 2015, 8:00 p.m.
Friday, October 16, 2015, 8:00 p.m.
Miller Theatre (2960 Broadway at 116th Street)

The trial of Joan of Arc was immortalized in Carl Theodor Dreyer's cinematic masterpiece La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc, widely considered one of the greatest films of all time. Maria Falconetti gives a mesmerizing performance as the Maid of Orleans, captured in expressive close-ups that invite the audience into the whirling passion of her final defense.

In this performance, marking the North American debut of the project, the Orlando Consort breathes new life into this classic silent film with an original medieval score, a creative compilation of pieces composed during Joan's 15th-century lifetime. Cascading polyphony captures her suffering and transcendence, and the unaccompanied voices of the Orlando Consort fittingly evoke the voices of the saints who first called Joan to her cause.

ARTISTS:
The Orlando Consort
Matthew Venner, countertenor
Mark Dobell, tenor
Angus Smith, tenor
Donald Greig, baritone
with Robert Macdonald, bass

FILM CREDITS:
Carl Theodor Dreyer, director and script
Pierre Champion, historical adviser
Rudolf Maté, cinematography
Hermann Warm, art director
Jean Hugo, art director
Valentine Hugo, costumes
Paul La Cour, assistant director
Ralph Holm, assistant director

The Orlando Consort (www.orlandoconsort.com) - The Orlando Consort, formed in 1988 by the Early Music Network of Great Britain, rapidly achieved a reputation as one of Europe's most expert and consistently challenging groups performing repertoire from the years 1050 to 1550. Their work successfully combines captivating entertainment and fresh scholarly insight; the unique imagination and originality of their programming together with their superb vocal skills has marked the Consort out as the outstanding leaders of their field. The Consort has performed at many of Britain's top festivals (including the BBC Proms and the Edinburgh International Festival) and has in recent years made visits to France, Holland, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Estonia, the USA, Canada, South America, Japan, Greece, Russia, Austria, Portugal, and Spain.

The Consort's impressive discography for Saydisc, Metronome, Linn, Deutsche Grammophon, and Harmonia Mundi USA includes a collection of music by John Dunstaple and The Call of the Phoenix, which were selected as Early Music CDs of the Year by Gramophone Magazine in 1996 and 2003 respectively; their CDs of music by Compère, Machaut, Ockeghem, Josquin, Popes and Anti-Popes, Saracen and Dove, and Passion have also all been short-listed. Their 2008 release of Machaut's Messe de Notre Dame and Scattered Rhymes, an outstanding new work by the young British composer Tarik O'Regan and featuring the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, was short-listed for a BBC Music Magazine Award. This is their second recording in a series for Hyperion exploring the polyphonic songs of Guillaume de Machaut; the first release (Le Voir Dit) was selected by New York Times critics as one of their favorite classical CD releases of 2013.

The Consort's performances also embrace the spheres of contemporary music and improvisation: to date they have performed over 30 world premières and they have created striking collaborations with the jazz group Perfect Houseplants and the brilliant tabla player Kuljit Bhamra. The Consort currently holds a residency at Nottingham University and recent concert highlights include their debut at New York's Carnegie Hall.

Columbia University's Miller Theatre is located north of the Main Campus Gate at 116th St. & Broadway on the ground floor of Dodge Hall. Directions and information is available online at www.millertheatre.com or via the Miller Theatre Box Office, at 212.854.7799.