Experience Movie Magic: USU Piano Students Bring Silent Films to Life

LOGAN, Utah — Step back in time as the USU piano majors bring the silent movie era to life at the upcoming Silent Film Festival. The event will begin at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 15 in the Russell/Wanlass Performance Hall.

Piano majors will perform live, toe-tapping soundtracks while audiences watch silent films featuring stars like Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton and Mabel Normand.

“Audiences will see four 20-minute-long movies,” said Piano Professor Kevin Olson. “Each movie has several piano majors assigned to specific scenes in that movie. One pianist will play a few scenes, and then it'll pass off seamlessly to the next pianist.”

This unique theme is entertaining for audiences while providing educational opportunities for piano majors.

“It's challenging the students in ways that they haven't been challenged before,” Olson said. “They are making actual decisions on the spot about where to transition from one type of musical mood to another.”

Each piano faculty member has been assigned a movie to help students tell its story and connect scenes together.

“I'm enjoying what the students are bringing in and how they are working together,” Olson said. “The fun part has been watching the students get a little bit more flexible in their improvisation or in the ways that they make the music match up to the visuals.”

This event will provide a nostalgic glimpse into how movies were watched a century ago.

“This really is how a movie would have been watched 100 years ago in 1924 in Cache Valley."

Purchase tickets online or at the CCA box office for a night of movie magic. For more information, visit the online events calendar.