EDMONDS — America’s first horror movie star Lon Chaney is the deformed man who haunts the Paris Opera House in the classic 1925 silent film “The Phantom of the Opera.”
“It’s spooky, but not as scary as the horror movies today,” said Henry Lebedinsky, the new music director at Edmonds United Methodist Church.
For people who want an alternative to trick-or-treat or haunted houses on Halloween night, Lebedinsky will play the church’s mighty Visser-Rowland pipe organ for a free showing of the Lon Chaney movie at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 31 at the church, 828 Caspers St., Edmonds.
“I’ll do a live, improvised organ score to accompany the movie, just as it was done in the age of silent films. The music will include snippets of original, classical and pop music and maybe a bit from Andrew Lloyd Weber’s ‘Phantom,’” Lebedinsky said. “We’ll have a big festive reception after the show. It should be a good time for families.”
This is just the first in a series of public concerts the church plans to offer the community throughout the year, he said.
The congregation is excited about the addition of Lebedinsky to lead the music ministry at Edmonds United Methodist, said Laurie Napa, a church member. “We are very much looking forward to kicking off our new concert series.”
On Dec. 13, Lebedinsky will play guitar with his Celtic band, the Beggar Boys, during a concert that includes a storyteller and Irish step dancers.
On March 1, Lebedinsky and the acclaimed Boston-based countertenor Reginald Mobley will perform 250 years of music by black composers.
Lebedinsky, 39, directs the Chancel Choir at Edmonds United Methodist.
He has performed internationally as an organ, harpsichord and clavichord soloist, as well as with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and the Charlotte Symphony, as a member of Agave Baroque, Sonoma Bach’s Live Oak Baroque Orchestra and the Vivaldi Project. He’s taught master classes at the University of Edinburgh, Bowdoin College, Davidson College, the University of North Carolina and Appalachian State University. Lebedinsky also is a composer and an arranger.
Gale Fiege: 425-339-3427; gfiege@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @galefiege.
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