Renowned broadcaster Neil Brand to host lecture and live piano performance at Leeds Beckett University

The lecture, entitled ‘Knowing the score: How music works in film’, will be presented during LEEDS 2023’s season one Awakening showcase, as part of an exciting line-up of events in partnership with Leeds School of Arts.

Neil is a prolific radio playwright and a TV presenter of the successful BBC4 series, ‘Sound of Cinema: The music that makes the movies’. His event will expand on his work investigating how music works with film, how it tells stories and the history and development of the film score from 1928 to the present day.

Drawing on orchestral scores such as Alfred Hitchcock’s 1929 silent film Blackmail and Anthony Asquith’s 1927 thriller Underground, Neil will consider clips from classics of horror, film noir, suspense, animation and modern action movies. Neil will bring film to life through music with live piano demos and will finish by playing a short live sequence from a silent drama.

Professor Robert Shail, Director of Research at Leeds School of Arts, said: “We are delighted to have Neil Brand join us for the prestigious INSIDE/OUT lecture series at Leeds School of Arts. The series brings the most exciting arts practitioners to the university and Neil is no exception. He is a true arts polymath working across several disciplines, a principle which is also key to the work of staff and students in the School of Arts.”

Professor Sue Miller, Professor of Music at Leeds School of Arts, said: “Neil Brand is a brilliant communicator, whose piano playing will make this public lecture exciting and accessible to anyone interested in how music works with film.

“His international reputation as a leading exponent of silent film piano accompaniment and his extensive work as a film composer and broadcaster, make for a perfect blend of art, entertainment and education. We’re delighted to offer this unmissable opportunity to our students, staff, and film enthusiasts in the city.”

‘Knowing the score: How music works with film’ is a free, in-person event and will take place on 1 February in the Leeds School of Arts Cinema, Leeds Beckett University, Portland Way, Leeds, LS1. Anyone interested to attend can book tickets on the Leeds Beckett University Eventbrite page.

The INSIDE/OUT public lecture series at Leeds Beckett University’s Leeds School of Arts is an incredible opportunity to present international cutting-edge research and arts practice innovation to arts and culture enthusiasts in Leeds and beyond.

Leeds Beckett University is a Principal Education Partner of LEEDS 2023, playing an active role in the year of culture that will showcase the city’s creative industries and communities. It will give the university’s 28,000 students, 2,800 staff and local communities the opportunity to make, perform, sing, speak, play and learn.