For Film Buffs and Music Nuts: RPO Goes to the Movies!

Rochester, NY – Film music sets a mood, creates tension, communicates character personalities, and when it’s really good, is a powerful reminder of a great film.  On Friday, March 23 and Saturday, March 24 at 8 p.m., the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Principal Pops Conductor Jeff Tyzik brings many of those great films to life through their compelling scores in “Let’s Go to the Movies!”  In between musical numbers, Chief Gannett Newspapers film critic and local film “guru” Jack Garner plays host and shares noteworthy information and trivia about the films, productions and music.

Music from various genres of film include such favorites as Casablanca, E.T., Jaws, Star Wars, Chocolat, Cinema Paradiso, El Cid and The Sea Hawk.  Jeff Tyzik’s own Big Movie Suite and Great Westerns Suite bring back memories from Dr. Zhivago, Lawrence of Arabia, The Pink Panther, Ben Hur and Rocky; and Dances with Wolves, How the West Was Won, Silverado and The Magnificent Seven, respectively.  Award-winning film composers such as Mikos Rozsa, Erich Korngold, Max Steiner, Rachel Portman and, of course, John Williams will be featured.

Jack Garner began reviewing films for the Democrat and Chronicle in 1977, starting with the first Star Wars. In 1987, he was named chief film critic for the Gannett Newspapers nationally, and syndicated to a hundred newspapers.  Mr. Garner has taught film courses at Monroe Community College, Writers and Books and Rochester Info-Courses. He reviews films regularly on radio stations WCMF and WARM, on WHAM-TV and on two podcasts.  He is a member of the Broadcast Film Critics Association and a contributor to Mick Martin’s Video Movie Guide.  Mr. Garner is also on the boards of BOA Editions, the Rochester-based poetry publisher, and the Rochester chapter of Women in Film and Television International.

Tickets for these performances are $20-$56, available online 24/7 at www.rpo.org, by phone (454-2100) and in person from the RPO Box Office, as well as at any Wegmans locations.  RPO Box Office hours are Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. (non-concert Saturdays, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.). Wegmans is open seven days a week. A convenience fee may apply.  The WPOP Series is sponsored by Wegmans.

Now in its 84th season, the RPO inspires and enriches the community through the art of music.  The Orchestra is passionately dedicated to outstanding musical performance at the highest artistic levels, and has a unique tradition of musical versatility, commitment to music education in the broadest sense and a deep and enduring engagement with the community.  The RPO has been honored with the New York State Governor’s Arts Award, and two recent ASCAP awards for adventurous programming.

RPO performances are made possible in part with grants from the National Endowment for the Arts; the New York State Council on the Arts, a State Agency; the State of New York; Monroe County; the City of Rochester; and American Airlines, the official airline of the RPO.