We are thrilled that The Passion of Joan of Arc is being performed at the White Light Festival in New York this weekend (Sat 29 Oct). This collaborative project, developed in Bristol by musicians Adrian Utley (Portishead) and Will Gregory (Goldfrapp) working with inspiration from Watershed, is a new live performance to the classic film (directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer in 1928) long regarded as a towering masterpiece of cinema.

Charles Hazlewood will conduct an eclectic group including Utley and Gregory, six electric guitars, choir, percussion, horns, harp and synthesizers. The music incorporates extended techniques for guitar and voices providing a powerful landscape for this incredibly innovative and moving expressionist film about the last days of Joan of Arc.

Mark Cosgrove, Watershed's Head of Programme explains:

'This new score to Carl Dreyer's classic silent film The Passion of Joan of Arc, started off four years ago when I showed some silent films to musicians Adrian Utley (Portishead) and Will Gregory (Goldfrapp). It took a few years to get their schedules together, but when they did, combined with some investment from Colston Hall, the result was a powerful new score to an equally powerful silent film, which premiered in Bristol in last year. The intensity of Dreyer's cinema and on-screen performances was complemented by the dynamic power of the new score, and resulted in an incredibly moving live performance.'

Mark continues: 'Here at Watershed we are always looking for new partners to work collaboratively with. Since the premiere in Bristol we have been spreading the word, and it has also been performed in Poland at the Krakow Opera House, at London’s Southbank Centre as part of Ether Festival, and at the Brighton International Festival. What is brilliant about these screenings and especially the one in New York, is the way that this creative project is always evolving and reaching new, wider international audiences.'

This performance at the White Light Festival is its North American premiere, and is presented in New York as part of the Bristol Exchange of Arts and Music (BEAM). The world premiere performance took place on Fri 7 May 2010 at Colston Hall, Bristol, and was a unique collaboration between renowned musicians Utley and Gregory, the refurbished Colston Hall and Watershed. This project was developed with and supported by Watershed, and commissioned by Colston Hall.

Watch a short film where Adrian Utley (Portishead), Will Gregory (Goldfrapp) and Charles Hazlewood discuss their development of the new score on DShed.

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