Celebrate the 100th anniversary

Celebrate the 100^th anniversary of the invention of one of the world’s most unique instruments, the theremin, with a film and live performance

Come take part in a worldwide celebration of the 100 year anniversary of the invention of one of the world’s most unique and beautiful instruments, the theremin.

Huntington, NY: On Wednesday, October 16^th at 7:30 PM the Cinema Arts Centre will be hosting an event that celebrates the 100^th anniversary of the invention of the unique musical instrument, the theremin. The theremin, invented in Russia in 1920 by Leon Theremin, is played without making physical contact with instrument. The thereminist moves his or her hands in the proximity of two metal antennas, creating its eerie and haunting sound. The theremin is featured in the soundtracks of classic films like The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951) and in modern favorites like Ghostbusters (1984) and Hellboy (2004).

For the occasion the Cinema Arts Centre will be presenting the documentary film, Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey, which will be followed by a live performance by Rob Schwimmer, one of the world’s premiere theremin players. The performance will then be followed by a discussion with Rob and led by musicologist Olivia Mattis.

Synopsis of the film: Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey tells the remarkable true story of Leon Theremin, the Russian inventor of an electronic musical instrument called the theremin, which uses motion to produce a sliding ethereal sound. After eleven years spent in New York, Theremin is escorted back to Russia by the KGB and made to work on surveillance technology. He disappears behind the Iron Curtain for 51 years, until his sudden reemergence in 1989.  During his absence, the theremin became a popular instrument, featured in the scores of films like “ Spellbound,” “The Day The Earth Stood Still,” and “The Lost Weekend” – as well as through the performances of Clara Rockmore. (USA & UK, 1995, 83 Mins., PG, English | Dir. Steven M. Martin)

Rob Schwimmer (theremin) is a composer-pianist/keyboardist, thereminist, and Haken Continuum player. As a world class thereminist, Schwimmer has been featured on CBS Sunday Morning, in the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. Former co-director and founding member of the New York Theremin Society, his credits as theremin soloist include Simon & Garfunkel’s world tours, the Boston Pops, the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Bobby McFerrin at Carnegie Hall and Gotye’s Ondioline Orchestra.

Olivia Mattis is a musicologist with degrees from Stanford and Yale Universities. She was the first to conduct an interview with Leon Theremin when he came out of Soviet seclusion in 1989 after 51 years of state confinement. She organized the First International Theremin Festival (Portland, ME) and the first MoogFest (Buffalo and Rochester, NY).  Her vintage RCA theremin instrument is now in the musical instrument collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  Her interview with Theremin was published in Keyboard magazine

Program Event Fees: $12 Cinema Arts Centre Members | $17 Public

Includes film screening, live performance, and discussion

To learn more about the Cinema Arts Centre visit our website www.cinemaartscentre.org, Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.