Silence is Golden

Monday we had the opportunity to see the Alloy Orchestra as part of the annual OK Mozart music festival. The festival takes place in Bartlesville, but for the first time, organizers decided to include an OKC series with several performances held at the Rose State College Performing Arts Theatre.

The performance was unique and wonderful! Here is a description from the OK Mozart website to explain this outstanding group and the performance:

Alloy Orchestra is a three-man musical ensemble, writing and performing live accompaniment to classic silent films. Working with an outrageous assemblage of peculiar objects, they thrash and grind soulful music from these unlikely sources. Performing at prestigious film festivals and cultural centers in the US and abroad (The Telluride Film Festival, The Louvre, Lincoln Center, The Academy of Motion Pictures and others), Alloy has helped revive some of the great masterpieces of the silent era.

Using 13 differently tuned horseshoes, 157 plumbing pipes, pots, pans, junkyard findings, musical saws, as well as accordions, clarinets, keyboards and drums, The Alloy Orchestra will perform live at the Rose State Performing Arts Theatre. The performers will accompany a screening of Fritz Lang's seminal 1927 film, Metropolis.

I don't think I have ever watched an entire silent film before. Metropolis is a captivating story about a futuristic society full of drone workers who live empty lives that are ruled by the upper class. Even though there are no words, the cast was talented, especially the female lead played by Brigitte Helm. 


The film was brought to life by the musical talent of Alloy Orchestra. Their sound effects and musical scores elevated tense moments in the film and added a flair of whimsy in the lighter scenes. The performance was amazing and one-of-a-kind and fun entertainment to highlight an otherwise boring Monday!