Coming March 2020.
(Chatting with a friend, sipping coffee)
Me: “I really want to make a music video, just because I’ve never done one before.”
Evan: “How would you like to make one for the local symphony that I play cello in?”
Me: “You play in a symphony?”
That’s how it started. Just two friends talking casually and dreaming of cool ideas. It didn’t take long before the idea bloomed into something much bigger and more impactful than either of us would have considered in that casual moment. Soon after that conversation, I found myself in an auditorium watching and filming a full 60 piece orchestra rehearsing Beethoven for an upcoming performance. I had never experienced such a performance before. I’d seen plays which had orchestras, but the music was there to support the play rather than the music itself being the focus. Standing there on stage amidst the musicians, watching, listening but even more so feeling the force of a literal sonic wave as the the combined power of all the instruments came together… excuse the pun, but it… struck a chord…
But as if the sheer power of the music itself wasn’t enough, what also struck me was the diversity of the people playing the music. All ages, various ethnicities, and all walks of life; because this was a community orchestra, not a professional one. I saw a young people in their teens or early 20’s playing side-by-side with people in their 60’s or 70’s. Blue collar labor workers playing alongside with doctors, lawyers and school teachers. Republicans, democrats, independents, and every flavor in-between… literally all playing in harmony.
It was beautiful. It was powerful.
There was more. It wasn’t just the music providing a momentary escape from reality. I soon discovered there were real stories right in front of me. Many of these people are actively involved in music education, music therapy, and there’s even a composer among the group who writes music for real movies. Some of them had their lives profoundly changed by being involved in orchestra, some others met and fell in love there, and literally have an orchestra playing the soundtrack of their lives together.
We realized a creative opportunity far beyond what we thought of over coffee in that first conversation. What if we made something that inspired more people of all ages and demographics to get involved in community music making? No one asked us to do this. There is no client. Just a love for fine art and a desire for music to touch the lives of others.
It wasn’t much longer after that, I was sitting at a table with my friend Evan, a Hollywood composer, the orchestra conductor, and a brilliant web developer. Collectively brainstorming about what we could create that would capture the beauty of orchestra and inspire the next generation of musicians.
The idea that emerged was actually pretty simple. Tell the story about a child’s first experience seeing a live symphony and take the viewer on a journey into the child’s imagination inspired by the music they hear. We filmed a very short proof of concept video which we pitched to the entire orchestra and asked who would be interested in being part of the project. Hands went up. Lots of them.
Months of planning followed and copious amounts of coffee was consumed. Storyboards were drawn and original music was written. More people volunteered, and Evan pulled more strings than a yarn factory.
In Sept of 2019 we rolled cameras for the first official time in the project. It was a long and hard week of of filming across central Oregon’s very diverse landscape and it resulted in some breathtaking imagery. The scenes we filmed tell the story of a child’s dream world of imagination, narrated by the music itself. Scenes and feelings represented by different sections of instruments. As far as we know, there is no other film like it in the genre of full orchestra.
Taking the idea even further though, is the combined web experience. It’s not just about the film. The film is actually a prelude to the web experience where the viewer will be able to interact with the original music and create their own arrangements and learn how the different sections and types of instruments work together to create a symphony. There will be interviews with members of the orchestra featured in the film telling their stories of how music affected their lives.
Below are a few selected video stills from the scenes we filmed and some behind the scenes photos of the production. The filming is not complete yet. The production conclusion will be filmed in February 2020 at the next live performance of the Central Oregon Symphony.
The entire project can be seen at www.imaginesymphony.live
Crew:
Producer/Director – Evan Sigvaldsen
Director of Photography – Bradley Lanphear
Composer – Chris Thomas
Orchestra Conductor – Michael Gesme
Web Developer – Dustin Woods
Child Actor – Torin Guerrero
Musicians – Eliza Zandonnati, Janet Gesme, Lenore Gilbert, Jeff Briggs, Travis Allen, David Fettig, Andreas Lang, Sam Conklin, Laura Leighton, Julian Simmons, Brenda Simmons, Leslie Knight, Emma Cheput, Stef Janin, Denise Driscoll, Wendy Bloom, Alex Gesme
Production Assistants – Christian Bowman, Cooper Anderson, Devon Lyons, Stuart Shaw.
Behind The Scenes Photography – Christian Bowman, Cooper Anderson.
Special Thanks To – Central Oregon Symphony Association, Cascades East Transit, Derek , US National Forest Service, Tanner Boley, Devon Lyons, Traci Guerrero-Benjamin, Don & Cecelia Barnes, Jason & Jenny Stollenwerk, Central Oregon Community College, BorrowLenses Inc, Sarah Houth, Tenley Haaby
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