Ben Model’s blog

  • La Vie et la passion de Jésus Christ. 1902. France. Directed by Ferdinand Zecca, Lucien Nonguet. 30 min. La Vie du Christ. 1906. France. Directed by Alice Guy Blaché. 28 min.The Automobile Thieves (incomplete). 1906. USA. Directed by J. Stuart Blackton. 10 min. Francesca di Rimini. 1908. USA. Directed by…

  • October finds me working full-time as a silent film accompanist. 22 performances in and around NY, plus a DVD box set release. When not performing, the rest of my working hours involve preparing for shows, agent work for shows coming up and for shows percolating for 2010, being my own…

  • Elise D’Haene did a real nice write-up in this week’s East Hampton Star on the shows I have coming up this Saturday, at the Bay Street Theatre in Sag Harbor. Click here to read the article.

  • Am playing for Orphans of the Storm in Huntington tonight. Reviewing my story sheet reminded me that toward the end the townspeople dance the Carmagnole. My notes — cribbed from some other website years ago — on the dance read: “The Carmagnole, an anonymous song and street dance popular during…

  • Back to “film school” today! Accompanied the “Actualities and Glimmerings of More” program at MoMA. Had a pretty big crowd, maybe 80-100 people. I didn’t keep count while I was playing, but am guessing it was at least 40 films. Since they were early actualities with little or no plot,…

  • For those of you with weekday daytime availability, be sure to bookmarkthis page on MoMA Film’s website for An Auteurist History of Film: http://moma.org/visit/calendar/films/989 The first 6 or 7 months of this two-year film cycle at MoMA, curated by Charles Silver, is all silent film. A different program is shown…

  • The newly revamped Hudson room at the Hudson River Museum does not have its grand piano available just yet, so I brought up my Kurweil PC2, OnStage keyboard stand and a few audio cable and adapters for this show. Being able to bring a keyboard is occasionally a factor in…

  • Here’s a snapshot of what’s what with me. It’s going to be a very busy and exciting fall, with 15-20 shows each month. I’ll try to be better about posting, and will try to retro-actively post about the shows I did in August bit by bit. I‘m back in NYC,…

  • ReelclassicDVD now accepts orders online with payments by credit card or PayPal. Up to now orders had to be placed by emailing or phoning in your CC info, but the company’s just upgraded their website so customers can buy directly over the website and pay securely online as well. ReelclassicDVD…

  • I was on the Mark Johnson Show on WDEV on Thursday morning, Aug 13, for about half an hour at the top of the show. I was promoting the Chaplin show in Manchester VT (Aug 15) and the Lloyd show in Rupert VT (Aug 23), among other things. Listen in!…