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Silent Shakespeare

This is the home of the Silent Shakespeare series presented by Burnett Thompson in partnership with the Shakespeare Guild and the Goethe-Institut German Cultural Center in Washington, DC. The screening and musical performances of many of the surviving silent films of Shakespeare plays will be presented over the 2008/2009 season. Mr. Thompson's scores are extemporaneously improvised, and provide an instant interpretation of the action on the screen.

Composer and Pianist Burnett Thompson has been performing his scores for silent films since 2002 at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, the Goethe-Institut German Cultural Center, the Freer Gallery, and Castleton Theater. Please take a moment to review the HISTORY of these performances.

Schedule

Saturday, Oct. 25, 2008. 2:00 p.m. As a foretaste of things to come, the National Gallery of Art presents a non-Shakespearean piece, The Last Days of Pompeii with original musical score by Burnett Thompson. Auditiorium of the East Wing. Admission is Free.

Additional screenings TBA.

March 11, 2009, 6:30 p.m. Othello, 1922, Director: Dmitri Buchowetzki. Cast: Emil Jannings, Lya de Putti, Werner Krauss. Goethe Institute Steinway piano provided by Jordan Kitts Music

March 14, 2009, 1:00 p.m. Julius Caesar Dir: Enrico Guazzoni. Idea: Raffaele Giovagnoli. Cast: Gianna Terribili-Gonzales, Augusto Mastripietri, Ignazio Lupi, Lea Orlandini. National Gallery of Art

March 16, 2009 The Sonnets: 10 Sonnets with newly composed musical settings. Casey Biggs will read the Sonnets. National Arts Club, New York, NY

Wednesday, March 18, 2009, Noon. Silent Shakespeare and the Sonnets: Charley Chase and the Sonnets read by Debra Tidwell Shakespeare Theatre at the Harman Theater in Washington, DC.

Many thanks to Sylvia Blume at the Goethe-Institut German Cultural Center, John Andrews at the Shakespeare Guild, Rita Venturelli at the Italian Cultural Center, and Peggy Parsons at National Gallery of Art.

INQUIRE

Discography

Beauty’s Rose

Derived from the Sonnets of William Shakespeare: A collection of improvised pieces for solo piano, composed and performed by Burnett Thompson

JazzTimes Review
Washington Post Review
Cadence Magazine Review
List of Tunes
The Text
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