An unusual combination of found percussion and state-of-the-art electronics gives the Alloy Orchestra the ability to create any sound imaginable as they perform live accompaniment to classic silent films. Working with an outrageous assemblage of peculiar objects, they thrash and grind soulful music from unlikely sources. They’ll be performing the soundtrack to Rupert Jillian’s 1925 classic Phantom of the Opera, one of the scariest and most influential horror films of all time- featuring Lon Chaney as the mysterious Phantom.

Local presentation of the Alloy Orchestra and “Phantom of the Opera” is made possible by the support from New York State Council on the Arts and the Central New York Programmers Group.

Press Release

The Alloy Orchestra is a three-man musical ensemble, writing and performing live accompaniment to classic silent films. Working with an outrageous assemblage of peculiar objects, they thrash and grind soulful music from unlikely sources. The members are TERRY DONAHUE (junk, accordion, musical saw, vocals), KEN WINOKUR (director, junk percussion and clarinet) and ROGER MILLER (keyboards).

According to Chicago Sun-Times film critic Roger Ebert, Alloy Orchestra is “the best in the world at accompanying silent films.”

“Phantom of the Opera” is a 1925 silent film directed by Rupert Julian adaptation of the Gaston Leroux novel of the same title. The film featured Lon Chaney in the title role as the masked and facially deformed Phantom who haunts the Paris Opera House, causing murder and mayhem in an attempt to force the management to make the woman he loves a star. It is most famous for Lon Chaney’s intentionally horrific, self-applied make-up, which was kept a studio secret until the film’s premiere.

The film also features Mary Philbin, Norman Kerry, Arthur Edmund Carewe, Gibson Gowland, John St. Polis and Snitz Edwards.

Now in its 18th year, the Alloy Orchestra began its aural onslaught with an original score for “Metropolis” in 1991. In the intervening years, the group has written scores for 28 feature length film presentations, typically premiering their new scores at the Telluride Film Festival in Colorado.

Performing at prestigious film festivals and cultural centers in the U.S. and abroad The Louvre, Lincoln Center, The Academy of Motion Pictures, the National Gallery of Art and others), Alloy has helped revive some of the great masterpieces of the silent era.

An unusual combination of found percussion and state-of-the-art electronics gives the Orchestra the ability to create any sound imaginable. Utilizing their famous “rack of junk” and electronic synthesizers, the group generates beautiful music in a spectacular variety of styles. They can conjure up a French symphony or a simple German bar band of the 20’s. The group can make the audience think it is being attacked by tigers, contacted by radio signals from Mars or swept up in the Russian Revolution.

Alloy collaborates with some of the world’s best archives and collectors (such as the George Eastman House, the British Film Institute, Paramount pictures, Film Preservation Associates and the Douris Corporation) to present audiences with the very best available prints of some of history’s greatest film.

The gorgeous new print of “Phantom of the Opera,” recently restored by Alloy’s sister company, Box 5, reproduces the extremely intricate color scheme of the original release with elaborate tinting, the experimental 2 strip Technicolor sequence at the masked ball, and luscious hand tinting. Combined with Alloy’s new score, this astounding film is as creepy today as it was 75 years ago.

We are committed to lowering the barriers to access for events at The Sanctuary for Independent Media. For people who are hard of hearing or deaf, blind or low-vision, or whose physical limitations can interfere with a satisfying experience, let us know two weeks in advance so we can make appropriate arrangements.