The UK’s best known and most authorative film critic, Mark Kermode, is to celebrate his 50th birthday with a top UK orchestra as they perform music from the films that have inspired him.
Mark Kermode to join the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra to celebrate his 50th birthday with four unique concerts
From The Exorcist to Mary Poppins expect a riot of music, plus stories from his life and career, in concerts across the UK.
This summer, Mark, the co-host of BBC Radio 5 Live’s Kermode and Mayo’s Film Review, is teaming up with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra at Cheltenham Festival (3 July); Barbican, London (6 July) The Bridgewater Hall, Manchester (8 July) and Symphony Hall, Birmingham (9 July) to celebrate a life spent in the movie theatre and how particular films have affected him so deeply.
The concerts will reflect Mark’s unique and eclectic tastes: after all, how often will you hear music from Twin Peaks and Mary Poppins in the same evening. Taking us through the films that mean most to him, Mark Kermode will bring us a tender theme from Silent Running, a violent hunt from Planet of the Apes (a film Kermode credits with teaching him everything he knows about politics), Jonny Greenwood’s hugely influential music from There Will Be Blood, the infernal strains of Peter Maxwell Davies’s hell-raising score from The Devils, the fandango of North By Northwest, the sleazy cityscape of Taxi Driver, Angelo Badalamenti’s dreamy score for David Lynch’s Twin Peaks Fire Walk With Me and the joyous overture to the Disney classic, Mary Poppins (one of Kermode’s all-time favourites). And a Kermode concert would not be complete without The Exorcist, which famously lifted a spine-tingling theme from the opening of Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells. Be afraid.
All the music will be conducted by maestro Robert Ziegler, who has a worldwide reputation as a conductor of film music and has worked regularly in the studio with film composers such as Howard Shore (Hugo, The Hobbit) Patrick Doyle (Hamlet, Sense and Sensibility) and Jonny Greenwood (There Will Be Blood, Norwegian Wood).
Also joining Kermode will be a surprise guest who will talk about their own career in the movies, and discuss the film music which has inspired them – a selection of which will be played live by the orchestra.
“These concerts are not an attempt to round up the ‘greatest’ screen music by the most celebrated composers. Rather, they are an enthusiastic romp through some very personal choices, blending the well-known with the more esoteric, the acclaimed with the ‘cult.’ We’ve attempted to have fun with the selections – we’re sure the audience will have fun hearing them.”
Concert producer Tommy Pearson says: “Mark’s brilliant reviews and interviews on BBC radio and TV display the knowledge of a true movie connoisseur and enthusiastic geek, which is a gift for audiences young and old. Bringing that infectious enthusiasm and deep appreciation to the concert stage, alongside the amazing CBSO, has long been on our wish-list and it’s going to be a really fantastic series of concerts. There’s something for everyone in the line-up and Mark will guide us through with his own brand of anecdote, reminiscence and all-out rant.”
Stephen Maddock, CBSO chief executive, commented: “We love performing the greatest soundtracks in the successful film concerts that we do each year. These concerts, which celebrate a significant milestone year for Mark, will offer a very personal, insightful and entertaining journey through his life spent with films and we are delighted to be celebrating with him. Film lovers, music lovers, and film music lovers won’t want to miss this series!”
For further information go to www.Kermodefilmmusic.co.uk or join in the conversation #CBSOMovie.
About Mark Kermode. Film critic and broadcaster Mark Kermode is the co-host of Kermode and Mayo’s Film Review on BBC Radio 5Live, and resident critic for The Film Review on the BBC News Channel. He writes for The Observer and Sight and Sound magazine, and is the author of It’s Only a Movie, The Good, The Bad and The Multiplex, and the forthcoming Hatchet Job He plays in the skiffle-and-blues band The Dodge Brothers who accompany silent films with pianist Neil Brand, and whose new album The Sun Set was recorded at the legendary Sun Studio in Memphis.
About Robert Ziegler. American conductor resident in the UK since 1981, Robert has worked with all the major UK orchestras and his international career takes him from London to Los Angeles to Australia. His versatility includes symphony, opera and contemporary music through to collaborations with jazz legend Wayne Shorter, rock pioneers Stewart Copeland and Jonny Greenwood and film composers Howard Shore, Mark Isham, Patrick Doyle and John Debney. He is frequently heard on BBC Radios 2, 3 and 4 speaking about music in all its forms.
About the CBSO. Founded in 1920 by the civic leaders of the city of Birmingham, the CBSO has a world-wide reputation as a pioneer for music, whilst also being rooted at the heart of the UK’s second city. The quality, range and scale of the programme delivered by the CBSO’s family of orchestral musicians, conductors and choruses is unrivalled anywhere in the world and, as it nears its centenary in 2020, it will continue to push the boundaries to secure a great future for music in Birmingham.