THE ART OF LIVE CINEMA

Silent Film Accompaniment

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Experience silent cinema as it was originally enjoyed, with live musical accompaniment bringing emotion, atmosphere, and dramatic expression to every scene. Presented inside the historic Capitol Theatre, these performances allow Vintage Film Festival audiences to rediscover the magic of silent film on the big screen.

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Jordan Klapman playing the piano
── FEATURED ACCOMPANIST ──
Jordan Klapman sitting at the piano
Jordan Klapman

Jordan Klapman is a pianist, composer, music director, and music educator. Since 1977 he has specialized in 20th century popular music—from traditional jazz, Dixieland and 1920s-30s dance music—to The Great American Songbook, Broadway, 1960s pop, and klezmer. He can be heard in festivals, clubs, concert halls, and theatres across Ontario, and beyond.

Jordan teaches courses on 20th century popular music for Hot Docs Curious Minds, the University of Toronto's School for Continuing Studies, Ryerson's LIFE Institute, George Brown, The Baycrest Learning Academy, and many other educational and cultural institutions. His uniquely "edu-taining" courses and lectures cover topics such as The History of Tin Pan Alley, Broadways Greatest Composers, The History of Jazz, Great Songs of the Sixties, Hollywood's Oscar-Winning Songs, The Great American Songbook, The Harlem Renaissance, The Big Band Swing Era, The History of Silent Film Accompaniment, and many other musical topics.

Since 2012, Jordan has composed and accompanied screenings of classic silent films for the Toronto International Film Festival, the Toronto Silent Film Society, Silent Sundays at The Revue, the University of Toronto's Media Commons and Innis College Film Studies department, The Toronto Jewish Film Society — and The Vintage Film Festival.

Jordan has been playing original accompaniments for the Vintage Film Festival's silent film screenings since 2013, beginning with Eisenstein's Battleship Potemkin. He was invited back the following year to accompany Chaplin's The Gold Rush—and has been a VFF favourite ever since.

Visit Jordan Klapman’s Website

Hear Silent Film Accompaniment in Action

Here is a video sample of accompaniment by Jordan.

The Art Behind the Music

The video below is produced by TIFF and discusses this subject.  One of the pianists featured is Jordan Klapman - the others are Marilyn Lerner and Tania Gill.  Note that the film in the video is The Adventures of Prince Achmed which we screened in 2013.

Experience Silent Cinema the Way It Was Meant to Be Seen

Join us at the Vintage Film Festival and discover how live music transforms classic silent films into an unforgettable cinema experience.

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