BEN-HUR – A TALE OF THE CHRIST

Stewart Copeland, Composer
with Pacific Symphony
Richard Kaufman, Conductor

VPAC welcomes Stewart Copeland, who caught the world’s attention when he captured the raw energy of the London punk rock scene by forming The Police. Copeland has since spent three decades as an acclaimed film composer, filmmaker and creator of opera, ballet and chamber music. His current muse, the 1925 film Ben Hur: A Tale of The Christ remains the most expensive silent film ever made, with an enormous cast and breathtaking visuals. Nearly a century later, the film’s chariot race remains one of the most influential scenes in cinema history. The evening will feature composer Copeland on drum set and percussion, fronting a full symphony orchestra, as VPAC resounds with hoof beats and drumbeats.

ONE NIGHT ONLY:

Wednesday, March 16, 2016 at 8pm

PRICES: Previews $70 – $45

TICKETS

BROCHURE

“Ben Hur is a picture that rises above spectacle, even though it is one. On the screen it isn’t the chariot race or the great battle scenes between the fleet of Rome and the pirate galleys of Golthar. It is the tremendous heart throbs that one experiences leading to those scenes that make them great.” Variety 1925

MGM’s 1925 film Ben-Hur: A Tale of The Christ, produced by Abraham L. Erlanger, Samuel Goldwyn, Louis B Meyer and Florenz Ziegfeld, and an uncredited Irving Thalberg was eventually directed by Fred Niblo at a cost of almost $4,000,000.00—some $200,000,000.00 in 2016. With an enormous cast and crew the film possesses a visual scope that is breathtaking, hugely impressive even by today’s standards.

In 2009, composer and legendary rock musician Stewart Copeland was asked to provide the score for an arena spectacle based on the original book by General Lew Wallace. Acted in Latin and Aramaic with a travelling cast and crew of 400, it premiered at the O2 Arena in London and was performed throughout Europe.

Copeland was commissioned by the Virginia Arts Festival to deconstruct the classic 1925 black and white film and re-orchestrate the recorded arena score for live orchestral concert performances. This is a project that for the first time combines all of Copeland’s many talents in composition, orchestration, film scoring, film editing, and his virtuoso talents as percussionist and drummer.

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INFORMATION

Theatre: Valley Performing Arts Center

Date: March 16, 2016

Time: 8PM

Tickets: $70-45

Buy Tickets: http://goo.gl/w2G8gq

Address: 18111 Nordhoff Street, Northridge, 91330

Website: http://goo.gl/w2G8gq

– See more at: http://www.valleyperformingartscenter.org/calendar/ben-hur-a-tale-of-the-christ-stewart-copeland-composer/#sthash.c4HV5weu.dpuf