There was no better way to spend the afternoon than with the Cal Poly Pomona Philharmonic Orchestra as it presented its show, “80 Years of Music for the Movies.”
The concert took place at the Music Recital Hall on Feb. 26 at 8 p.m.
“80 Years of Music for the Movies” was a compilation of popular cinematography, which left a lasting mark in history for its classical music.
Before each song, the director Janine Riveire gave a brief synopsis of the piece which included the composer, the year it was made and the awards it received.
The show began with the small group of OPUS Personnel and no conductor; instead, Riveire played with the group as the base.
This group played a song from the movies “Brave,” “Mary Poppins” and “Coco.”
Afterwards, the philharmonic joined them.
Together they played songs from the classics “Fantasia,” “A Space Odyssey,” “Jaws,” “Alien” and “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban,” taking the audience back to the days when these movies first premiered and the novice feeling that came with first watching the films.
Each song was different in terms of how the audience felt when listening.
“Fantasia” and “Jaws,” for example, gave audiences a scary and anxious feeling. Meanwhile, the piece from Harry Potter was a nostalgic feeling, explained to be a feeling of loss with hope for better to come.
During the intermission, Cody Farlow, third-year mechanical engineering student stated how he felt about the show.
“I really loved the beginning group and when they played ‘Remember Me’ from ‘Coco,’” Farlow said.
“Although I think that what I’m most excited about is listening to the piece from ‘Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.’”
During the “A Space Odyssey” piece, the director set up for the opening scene to play on a screen above the group.
She explained this to be of great interest to her and made her realize how much navigating in space is like a dance.
She wanted to share that experience with the audience.
“I was promised I would be able to fly to the moon by now,” Riveire said.
“So we’re gonna try something we’ve never done tonight.”
Watching the scene above, while at the same time listening to the music, gave more than just a visual experience to everyone in the room. It allowed the audience to feel like they were a part of something.
One of the show’s violinists, Sophie Arbelbide, a biotechnology major, said that this show in particular was exciting to prepare for, especially because they were playing a piece from one of her favorite movies.
“I always loved playing ‘Coco’ because I love the movie, it was just really fun to play.” Arbelbide said.
All in all, the show provided a fun night of nostalgia for the audience members to reminisce on their favorite movies and movie soundtracks.
