FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
American Festival for the Arts & Aurora Picture Show
Partner to Make Beautiful (Film) Music Together
HOUSTON, TX (May 1, 2013) – American Festival for the Arts (AFA) is proud to announce an exciting new partnership with Aurora Picture Show. This collaboration brings high school age composers and filmmakers together to learn the art of film scoring.
Both AFA and Aurora Picture Show have well-established summer programs for young people but this is a first of its kind in Houston. It brings together the collective resources of the AFA and Aurora faculty for a two-week session that guides students through the collaborative process of creating a film with original music.
Instructed by film composer Richard Ford and filmmaker Camilo Gonzalez, the film-scoring workshop will be offered in June and July 2013. The completed films will premiere with new ballets created with choreographers of AFA’s groundbreaking partnership with Houston Ballet’s Ben Stevenson Academy. The performance will be on Friday, July 19, 2013 at the Houston Ballet Center for Dance (601 Preston Street, Houston, TX 77002).
“Film music is one of the most exciting career prospects for young composers. We are excited to help provide this opportunity for our high school students. It is another way AFA is offering best-in-class programs for high school students interested in writing music,” says Dr. Michael Remson, AFA Executive & Artistic Director.
For more information on this or any AFA program, visit http://www.AFAtexas.org.
About AFA:
American Festival for the Arts (AFA) offers Houston’s finest music education programs for youth, assembles renowned faculty with a passion for teaching, offers challenging curricula that enhance student skills and provides performance opportunities that benefit our students and our community. Our approach makes musical development and accomplishment a vehicle for learning and personal growth – growth that impacts every area of our students’ lives.
Described as “an essential part of Houston’s summer music activities,” AFA’s signature program, the AFA Summer Music Conservatory, enrolls 300 fourth through twelfth grade students from 100+ elementary, middle and senior high schools throughout Southeast Texas. Offering full-day programs ranging in length from two to five weeks, AFA offers programs for instrumentalists, vocalists, pianists and composers. For more information, visit http://www.AFAtexas.org.
About Aurora Picture Show:
Aurora Picture Show is a non-profit media arts center that presents artist-made, non-commercial film and video. Aurora is dedicated to expanding the cinematic experience and promoting the understanding and appreciation of moving image art. Aurora is a proud collaborator with many Houston organizations and educational institutions and is committed to expanding the opportunities for understanding moving image art. Aurora has distinguished itself as a home for vanguard work that falls outside of conventional moviemaking and traditionally has fewer exhibition outlets. Aurora screenings are known for being memorable and not-to-be-missed as they are not often repeated and are difficult to duplicate. For more information or to become a member, visit http://www.AuroraPictureShow.org.
About Richard Ford:
Richard Ford has been composing music for more than 25 years and his music has been performed internationally. Ford specializes in composing music that is accessible, bold and full of movement for soloists, chamber groups, theatre, dance and film. Not just a composer, Ford has produced, directed and worked on over 200 pieces for theater and film. His compositions for film range from the progressive rock-inspired score for the feature film iCrime to the short films Trojan Horse, Kith and Kin, Kidnapped and The State of Things. His shows have been produced by, among others, Playwrights Horizons Winterfest, Bloomington Playwrights Project (Indiana), and Real Rain Productions (Chicago). For more information, visit http://www.RichardFordComposer.com.
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KATHERINE MESTOUSIS 