By Rosie Pentreath
The Australian Chamber Orchestra has produced films with live scores, and performed them in concert, since 2008 when it created its first film, Musica Surfica.
Since then, the ACO has produced four more large-scale film projects – The Reef (2012), Mountain (2017), River (2021) and The Crowd & I (2022).
The ACO actually creates the films it presents in concert
“The films we perform live with ACO aren’t standard ‘run of the mill’ films,” ACO Principal Viola Stefanie Farrands says. “The ACO is involved from conception, and the music is part of the DNA of the film, so music is always an integral and essential part, which is why all of our films work so beautifully for the stage.”
Rather than simply putting on an established film, then, like a Disney Pixar favourite or a Lord of the Rings, and playing along, the ACO creates brand new films in partnership with acclaimed filmmakers and presents the whole experience as an audio-visual feast on the concert stage. While orchestras often drive revenue by performing scores of popular films live, this desire to create new feature films for concerts seems to be unique to the ACO in the context of classical music across the globe.
“The ACO has been dipping its feet in the film world for a while now, and we learn a few things each time we work on a new project,” ACO Violin Ike See says. “The big difference in performing these is that unlike a regular concert, we have very little control about how things flow.”
“We are just one part of the puzzle that has to fit in with the visual element that really sets the pace,” he adds.
Playing along with films creates rewarding constraints
ACO Cello Julian Thompson agrees that playing along with films presents constraints and rewarding challenges.
“Making sure we hit the ‘hard’ hit points and we’re flawlessly synched is one of the main challenges, but I’d say that it’s also finding the fine line between rigid sync and the freedom to actually make real, live music in the moment which is the biggest overarching challenge,” he says.
“The screen is boss!” Stef emphasises. “As you can imagine, timing is critical.”
How does it actually work?
“We bring a lot more tech to the table when we’re playing with a film than when we play a regular concert,” Julian shares. “A whole suite of extra screens and in-ear tech helps us keep it all seamlessly synched up.”
As Julian says, the Orchestra uses audio devices, including an in-ear click track, and/or visual cues from ‘streamers’ – small screens with key visual information cued over film footage – to keep their place in the film, and hit important moments accurately.
“The audience may or may not notice this on stage, but we have small screens in front of each section running a version of the film with a lot of visual cues – titles of pieces, bar and beat numbers within those pieces – as well as earpieces with an aural click track, and these serve to keep us in line with the film.” Ike confirms. “There are often points where we need to crescendo to a climax to match what’s happening on screen, say, someone launching off a precipice in a wingsuit in Mountain, or the breaking of a dam in River, and these tools are important in ensuring we hit those moments at the right times.”
“Quite a lot of logistics are involved – we have to multitask a lot!,” Stef says. “Sometimes we need to watch streamers, and sometimes we are playing with an in-ear click. On occasion we have the space and freedom to be off click, but it very much depends on the moment.”
How does it differ from a traditional classical concert?
“When we usually perform, we have the freedom to bend and shape the music as we feel on any given night,” Julian says. “Because the image is ‘locked’, we have some different shackles when we’re playing with a film.”
Yes. “There is certainly less room for flexibility and spontaneity when working with a film which can sometimes be challenging,” Stef agrees. “And perhaps at times, less room to be able to communicate and bounce off each other as we would normally do on stage.
“This can sometimes run afoul of our nature, because music is usually not quite so prescriptive or metronomic,” Ike confesses. “Part of the challenge is figuring out how and when we use those tools to best serve the performance.
“At times we adhere strictly to all the information, while at other times we go slightly ‘offline’ in order to perform a piece as naturally as possible.”
For Stef, a highlight in the ACO’s film projects has been The Crowd & I – “sometimes we need art to challenge us” – while Julian has fond memories of many projects:
“They’ve all been so different,” he says. “Musica Surfica was such a random, free exploration and I had no preconceptions at all when Richard asked me to fly to King Island with my electric cello. The Reef was an incredible shoot and the first shows at the Opera House were just epic. And Mountain and River took it all to a whole new level.”
“This can sometimes run afoul of our nature, because music is usually not quite so prescriptive or metronomic.”Aco Violin Ike See
Recording soundtracks to big movies
As well as its own films, the ACO has on occasion been the orchestra chosen to perform the soundtrack of a blockbuster film. ACO Artistic Director Richard Tognetti has credits on Master and Commander: Far Side of the World, directed by Peter Weir and starring Russell Crowe, for example. And the Orchestra recorded Elena Kats Chernin’s heartfelt score for Adam Elliot’s Oscar-nominated animated feature, Memoir of a Snail, in 2024.
The ACO is looking forward to performing that score live in special screenings of the film, introduced by the director and performed with Kats-Chernin on the piano, at our ACO On The Pier home in June 2025.
“An important element of performing the score live is that it brings the music closer,” Stef says. “I often wonder about the phenomenon of an audience watching musicians on stage, and wonder how it actually impacts their listening,” she ponders.
“There is certainly still an exciting element of live performance which I think not only changes, but enhances, the audiences’ experience of the film,” she smiles.
Experience it for yourself: Memoir of a Snail Live in Concert premieres 6–8 June 2025 at ACO On The Pier in Sydney. And Mountain returns in a special series of limited performances this year, touring to Queensland Performing Arts Centre in Brisbane, Sydney Opera House, Llewellyn Hall in Canberra, and Arts Centre Melbourne, 27–30 October.
Click here to discover and book tickets for Memoir of a Snail (6–8 Jun).
Click here to discover and book tickets for Mountain (27–30 Oct).
