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Silent ‘Phantom of the Opera’ to be screened

The Phantom of the Opera, the classic 1925 silent film starring Lon Chaney, comes to life with an original musical score performed live by the Andrew Alden Ensemble on Saturday at the 1891 Fredonia Opera House.

Adapted from the Gaston Leroux novel of the same name, The Phantom of the Opera stars Chaney in the title role of the deformed Phantom who haunts the Paris Opera House. He causes murder and mayhem in an attempt to force management to make the woman he loves a star. Grossing more than $2 million upon its release, the film was a huge success at the box office, but remains most famous for Chaney’s intentionally horrific, self-applied make-up, which was kept a studio secret until the film’s premiere.

The Andrew Alden Ensemble is a contemporary chamber group from Berklee College of Music, in Boston, that composes and performs music to classic silent films. Dedicated to new music in the tradition of Bang on a Can All-Stars, Alloy Orchestra, Kronos Quartet and Alarm Will Sound, the group’s music combines influences of Steve Reich, Philip Glass, David Lang, Radiohead, Velvet Underground and Krzysvtof Penderecki to create a distinctly original and haunting sound.

The group is led by Andrew Alden, an American composer from New England. He studied film scoring and composition at Berklee and has scored 15 different films including spots on NBC. The Ensemble also includes Chile native Beltran Del Campo on violin and viola, Thailand native Nat Saralamba on electric guitar and Ryan Masecar on drums/percussion.

Tickets to The Phantom of the Opera are $12 ($10 for Opera House members) and may be purchased in person at the Opera House Box Office or by phone at 679-1891, Tuesday through Friday, 1-5 p.m. They also may be purchased online any time at www.fredopera.org.

This event is made possible, in part, with public funds from the United Arts Appeal of Chautauqua County. Opera House media partners are WDOE 1410 AM & 94.9 FM and KIX Country 96.5 & 100.3 FM.

Chautauqua County’s only performing arts center presenting its own programming year-round, the 1891 Fredonia Opera House is a member-supported not-for-profit organization located in Village Hall in downtown Fredonia. A complete schedule of events is available at www.fredopera.org.

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