Acclaimed vocal ensemble to perform alongside a film screening

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Britain’s Orlando Consort will perform at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Center, 535 W. State St., on Feb. 23 at 8 p.m. The vocal ensemble will present the program “Voices Appeared: Silent Cinema and Medieval Music.” The performance features Orlando Consort performing alongside a screening of the classic film “The Passion of Joan of Arc.” This performance is presented by Purdue Convocations.

A pre-show discussion will occur at 7 p.m. in the Purdue Memorial Union’s 1869 Tap Room. Members of the Indiana Film Journalists Association will lead a discussion about the movie “The Passion of Joan of Arc.” The event is free and open to ticket holders. 

Condemned in France and banned in England upon its release in 1928, “The Passion of Joan of Arc” has since earned universal coronation as one of the greatest films ever made. With a documentarian’s authenticity and a disruptor’s aesthetic, director Carl Theodor Dreyer chronicles the 15th-century interrogation, trial, and execution of a “simple shepherdess” turned Catholic saint. 

Inspired by visions of angels and saints, Joan posed as a boy to help France defeat British occupation forces in the Hundred Years’ War — all before age 19. Dreyer lends intense isolation to the often outsized, crowd-pleasing medium of silent film — using discomforting close-ups, disquieting editorial rhythms, and a dynamic turn from actress Renée Maria Falconetti that film critic Pauline Kael said “may be the finest performance ever recorded on film.” Now, in “Voices Appeared: Silent Cinema and Medieval Music,” Dreyer’s magnum opus is accompanied for the first time by an a cappella score. Curated and performed by one of Europe’s most expert vocal quartets, Britain’s Orlando Consort, the score masterfully uses French sacred and secular music from 1050 to 1550 to illuminate the emotional arc of the film, featuring hymns, chansons, chants, Kyries, and motets that Joan likely heard during her brief, remarkable life. 

Tickets are $28 for adults and $22 for children under 18, Purdue students and Ivy Tech Lafayette students. Tickets are available at the Stewart Center box office at 765-494-3933 or 800-914-SHOW. Group tickets are also available to groups of 10 more. Call 765-496-1977 for more details or visit https://purdue.edu/convocations/group-sales/.

Initiated in 1902, Purdue Convocations was one of the first professional performing arts presenters in the United States. Each year, Convocations offers the region 30-40 performances of widely varying genres: Broadway-style shows, theater, dance, children's theater, world music, jazz, and chamber music, along with rock, pop, country and comedy attractions. With a vision for connecting artists and audiences in artistic dialogue and for drawing in academic discourse, Purdue Convocations aims to promote frequent exposure to and familiarity with human cultural expression in a multitude of forms and media. 

Source: Abby Eddy, Purdue Convocations director of marketing, 765-494-9712, aeeddy@purdue.edu

Note to Journalists: Publication-quality photos are available at http://www.convocations.org/press.

Related websites:

Purdue Convocations:  https://www.purdue.edu/convocations/

Orlando Consort: http://www.orlandoconsort.com/