Ben Model’s blog

  • July 2 – De Luxe Annie at the Donnell Media Center went well today. We had around 175 people and the film went over really well. Piano sounded great; they have a nice Steinway D, which is moving to the Bruno Walter auditorium after the Donnell closes. My talk may…

  • July 1: Took a little time this afternoon to take a second glance at the screener of De Luxe Annie with Norma Talmadge, which I’m accompanying tomorrow at the Donnell Media Center auditorium. The show is part of the “Meet the Music Makers” series curated by Joe Yransky (the “Y”…

  • I’m going to try to post as often as I can in July with quick or short impressions of the shows, as well as the recording sessions I have (one for Kino, one for ReelclassicDVD, and a few for AllDay Entertainment). * * * * * * * * June…

  • Every year the town and village of Mamaroneck NY (where Griffith had studios for a few years) holds its annual “Historic Harbor Festival”. The entire main drag is taken over by a giant street fair with booths, performers, food from local restaurants, etc. Mam’k’s 1920’s movie theater, currently owned by…

  • On Saturday June 21 at midnight (!) I presented and accompanied a program of silent one-reelers from 1913 at MoMA. The program was part of an innovative education program done by Amir Parsa called “That Year, This Day” in which class participants spent time at the museum from 6pm to…

  • Last night I attended the premiere of my concert band arrangement of my Adventurer score. The score was a big hit, and the evening itself was quite wonderful. My wife and daughter came out to Milford CT early and we were hosted for dinner by Dr. Ralph Barbiero and his…

  • Visited Jonathan Law High School yesterday, attending a morning rehearsal of the school’s chamber ensemble – 20-25 piece concert band – as well as the two AP History classes who are studying the silent film era and making presentations at the concert on June 13. Was impressed with the shape…

  • Had a nice long chat with 91-year-old silent film accompanist Harry Weiss the other day. When I began accompanying silent films at the Cinema Arts Center (formerly known as the New Community Cinema) in Huntington, NY, Vic Skolnick spoke fondly of their first accompanist, Harry Weiss. Harry played piano for…

  • I made my Radio City Music Hall debut yesterday, playing for the graduation ceremony of the School of Visual Arts. I improvised 90+mins of music while the graduates came up and received their diplomas…17 groups in all. I used the RCMH’s 9-foot Steinway grand, which was placed extreme downstage right,…

  • Don’t know if I’ve mentioned this here before, but I’ve been making a study of silent comedy filmmaking and how undercranking was utilized. I’ve discovered the comedians not only knew the film they shot would be shown faster, but they used this to their advantage, making many of their gags…