Donald Sosin and Joanna Seaton, returning for the fifth time to Charlottesville,
are well-known all over the US and Europe for their unique blend of keyboard, vocals and percussion for silent films.
Their scores are featured on 25 DVDs and each year they perform for over 100
screenings at such venues as MoMA, the Film Society of
Lincoln Center, the National Gallery, the American Museum of the
Moving Image, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Telluride Film
Festival, the New York Film Festival, the San Francisco Silent Film
Festival, the Seattle Film Festival,the San Francisco Ssilent Film Festival,
the TriBeCa Film Festival, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the
Wadsworth Atheneum (Hartford), the High Museum (Atlanta),
and Italy’s two major venues for silent film presentation, Le Giornate del Cinema Muto in Pordenone, and Bologna’s Cinema Ritrovato, both of which commissioned scores
from them in 2006. Their songs have been performed by the Chicago
Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, the Colorado Children’s Chorus.
Recently they have begun leading silent film music workshops for
middle school to college students and teachers. They live in
Connecticut with their son Nick. Website: oldmoviemusic.com
Donald’s scores have been played on ABC, CBS, PBS, NPR, the
Orchestra of St. Luke, and many chamber groups. His lively piano lessons for
beginners can be found online at workshoplive.com. Joanna is an
accomplished singer and actress, with hundreds of performances off-
Broadway and in regional theater. She has performed with jazz great
Dick Hyman at the 92nd St. Y in NYC. Donald and Joanna taught
songwriting around the country for 10 years and received grants from
Meet the Composer to create an original children’s musical for the
International School in New York City in 1991. In 1994-5 they toured
with the national company of JOSEPH & THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR
DREAMCOAT, teaching the songs and dances to over 1,000 children.
