MALIBU COAST SILENT FILM ORCHESTRA

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The Malibu Coast Silent Film Orchestra savors the notion that our historical past can be rejuvenated and presented to the modern public in a new light, as life is breathed into rare silent masterpieces with newly commissioned original collaborative music.

Rather than reconstruct scores from the silent era in order to recreate historical museum pieces, the Malibu Coast Silent Film Orchestra brings silent classics into the 21st century with vibrant original music scored specifically for each film by the distinct voice of American composer, Maria Newman. The music is truly modern and highly operatic in fashion, allowing the composer to take on a symbiotic partnership with the film, as both the visual and musical forces work in tandem in a way that has not really been explored in the past. 

A member of Hollywood Royalty herself, Maria Newman is the youngest child of the 9-time Academy Award-winning composer and conductor of the original Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, Alfred Newman. Members of the Newman Family Musical Dynasty, who include Randy Newman, Lionel Newman, Emil Newman, Thomas Newman, David Newman, Joey Newman and Maria Newman, all have worked on and created the music for many hundreds of motion pictures. 

Newman has scored dozens of silent films, from charming early shorts to the classic feature films of Mary Pickford, Jack Pickford, Lon Chaney, Marion Leonard, Conrad Nagel, and Marion Davies. Varying in orchestration as needed, from small chamber ensembles to full orchestra, the Malibu Coast Silent Film Orchestra is heard internationally in concert as well as on Turner Classics, regularly introducing new audiences to the art of silent film in collaboration with modern music performed live to the film. In the greater Los Angeles area, they have performed these scores and movies at the Malibu Celebration of Film, Malibu Film Society, Grand Performances, Hollywood Egyptian Theatre, Pasadena Film Festival, the Annenberg Beach House, Pepperdine University, the Montgomery Arts House for Music and Architecture, among others. They have regularly performed at the San Luis Obispo Internal Film Festival and been featured at The Eastman School of Music as part of Newman’s Composer Residency. 

For its efforts, the orchestra and its members have garnered multiple awards and commendations from the Annenberg Foundation, the NEA, ASCAP, and the United States Congress, among many others, having performed in the world's most venerable concert venues and motion picture scoring stages, the United States Capitol building in Washington D.C., and the private theatre of the historic Hearst Castle.