White Light Festival presents The Passion of Joan of Arc

Lincoln Center: Adrian Utley (of Portishead) and Will Gregory (of Goldfrapp) US premiere of The Passion of Joan of Arc October 29

Lincoln Center's White Light Festival will present a screening of Carl Theodor Dreyer's 1928 cinematic masterpiece The Passion of Joan of Arc, accompanied by the live performance and U.S. premiere of a musical score created by renowned musicians Adrian Utley and Will Gregory of the groups Portishead and Goldfrapp, respectively, on Saturday, October 29, 2011 at 7:30pm in Alice Tully Hall.

The new score for The Passion of Joan of Arc, led by British conductor Charles Hazlewood, is Utley's and Gregory's first collaboration on a live score, written for an eclectic ensemble comprising six electric guitars, a choir, harps, percussion, horns, and keyboards.

Although both artists come from substantial classical music backgrounds - Gregory as a former saxophonist for the London Sinfonietta and Utley as a film and TV composer - their unique aesthetic focuses on guitar harmonics and pitch-bending synthesizers.

The music incorporates extended techniques for instruments and voices, providing a powerful landscape for this remarkably moving silent film about the last days of Joan of Arc.

Made in France, the original film was released at the close of the silent era and offers a powerful portrait of psychological torment and martyrdom as it follows Joan's trial, imprisonment, torture, and execution.

The original film negative was lost for decades and only discovered by accident in the cupboard of a Norwegian mental institution in 1981. The new print, made by Artificial Eye Film distributors, was premiered with the new score in 2010 at Colston Hall in the U.K.

Saturday, October 29, 2011 at 7:30
Alice Tully Hall
White Light Lounge following performance, at65
Post-performance discussion with the artists
The Passion of Joan of Arc
Adrian Utley, composer, synthesizer, and Chinese oboe
Will Gregory, composer, guitar, mandola, and synthesizer
Charles Hazlewood, conductor
U.S. premiere of live score by Adrian Utley and Will Gregory
Film: The Passion of Joan of Arc, directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer, 1928, 1 hour, 22 min.
Performance will include choir, guitars, horns, keyboard, and percussion
Presented by Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in association with the Film Society of Lincoln Center
Tickets: $45/65/80

Sponsored by Time Warner, Inc.

White Light Festival Official Website