WESTERLY — Ian Niederhoffer, a young conductor widely praised for "his elegance and dynamism on the podium," was on the telephone Tuesday morning explaining how a 1929 silent film, a famous Russian composer and a contemporary chamber orchestra will all merge Saturday for an unusual program called "Silent Film with Live Orchestra: Parlando" at the United Theatre.
The event, which will include a screening of the 1929 Soviet film, "The New Babylon," will be accompanied by a live performance of Dmitri Shostakovich’s "The New Babylon," by Parlando, a New York City-based chamber orchestra founded by Niederhoffer.
"The real star is Shostakovich and his brilliant, vibrant, vivacious score," said Niederhoffer, a 2019 Yale graduate who has been spending summers in Watch Hill and Weekapaug with his family since he was a 5-year-old.
Niederhoffer said he got the idea for Saturday's program soon after a conversation he had last summer with Carly Callahan, the United's executive director.
The conductor and music director of Parlando, known for bringing intimate and accessible orchestral experiences to wider audiences, Niederhoffer said his philosophy — and that of Parlando — is that "every concert tells a story."
"When Carly told me the history of the United," Niederhoffer said, and how it began as a Vaudeville place then became a movie house, ideas for the program — which ties together the United's past with its future plans as a "a multimedia communal space" with live music and film — began to take shape.
"I thought what better way [to tell a story] than with the movie-music combination of 'The New Babylon,' and Shostakovich’s vibrant score," Niederhoffer said.
Niederhoffer said he plans to talk briefly before the program begins, just to explain what the film and the Paris Commune are all about.
"It's really a love story," he said, "a love story about a revolutionary shopkeeper and a soldier," two lovers caught in the throes of political upheaval in 19th century Paris.
The shopkeeper ends up being the brave character while the soldier "chickens out," he said with a chuckle.
"It actually holds up pretty well for a Russian propaganda film," he added. "It's very contemporary as far as gender roles."
"The story is a little opaque, and a little self-serious," said the conductor with a laugh. "The score brings it all to life. It brings a sparkle."
Niederhoffer, who won three prizes at the 2021 Khachaturian International Conducting Competition, will be returning to conduct the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra during the upcoming season as winner of the Audience Prize. Recent engagements include appearances with Onsite Opera, Music Talks, Gramercy Opera, and cover conducting for the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra.
In 2019, Niederhoffer made his European operatic debut conducting two world premiere chamber operas at the Wiener Kammeroper with the Vienna Summer Music Festival. In 2017, he made his U.S. professional debut with the Vermont Mozart Festival and was invited back as conductor of their 2018 season, leading the Festival Orchestra in several concerts across northern Vermont. Later that year, he appeared as guest conductor with the Salomé Chamber Orchestra at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall.
A participant in both the 2019 and 2022 Järvi Conducting Academies, where he conducted in master classes with Paavo Järvi, Neeme Järvi, Kristjan Järvi, and Leonid Grin, Niederhoffer began his conducting studies at the age of 15. In 2021, he was named Artist of Promise at the Conducting Academy of the Verbier Festival where he assistant conducted for Lahav Shani, Daniel Harding, Antonio Pappano, and Gábor Takacs-Nágy.
Dedicated to the audience experience, Niederhoffer "seeks to make classical music engaging while preserving the integrity of the music."
He has become known as a charismatic, engaging pre-concert speaker, with an anecdotal style that puts the audience at ease. Inventor of the “chili pepper system,” where each note represents a level of listening difficulty, like chili peppers at a Thai restaurant, Niederhoffer is committed to making the concert experience engaging and comprehensible for all audiences.
While studying at Yale College, he founded and served as music director for the Yale Undergraduate Chamber Orchestra, commissioning six world premieres over his three-year tenure. He also served as assistant conductor of the Yale Symphony Orchestra and music director of the Opera Theater of Yale College.
Niederhoffer graduated with distinction with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music and was awarded both the Wrexham Prize and the Joseph Lentilhon Selden Memorial Award by Yale University for his “verve, idealism, and constructive interest in music.”