Live music with movies is what the James Whale Orchestra does. Our audiences have repeatedly told us that we create a uniquely immersive movie experience, and that we are simply the best at what we do. Whether it be with our own specially composed and syncronized soundtracks, or iconic soundtracks by Yann Tiersen or Max Steiner, we turn a great movie into an unforgettable experience.
JWO Modern Masterpieces
Modern classics – like the movie Amelie – are the films we grew up with and that we return to again and again. Their music is the soundtrack to our lives, their images are iconic, and they have gone beyond just entertainment to become part of our culture.
The JWO takes the soundtracks that other orchestras can’t play, and brings them to the stage to bring your past back to life.
JWO 1920’s and 1930’s Golden Age of Hollywood Classics
We keep making new movies, but there are a lot of really fantastic classic movies out there that you will probably never get the chance to see, let alone with a live soundtrack. Many people are starting to rediscover the beautiful and elegant cinema of the Golden Age of Hollywood, when stars like Greta Garbo, graced the silver screen, and the Hitchcock was the hottest young director in town. The JWO takes select cinematic masterpieces from the 1920’s and 1930’s and brings them back to life with stunning soundtracks.
The James Whale Orchestra is Oliver Parr (Artistic Director, Composer) Panyiotis Ioannou (Music Producer, ) and Thomas Geerts (Music Producer, Conductor)
Oliver Parr was born in the U.K. and studied cello in Manchester with Eduardo Vassallo, in Paris with Radu Aldulescu and at the Musikhochschule Detmold with Karine Georgian. Since 2000 Oliver has been the solocellist of the Remix Ensemble Casa da Musica with whom he has performed at most of Europe’s major festivals and concert venues, including Wien Modern, Milano Settembre, Berlin Marz Muziek, Strasbourg Musica and Donaueschingen. He has worked and collaborated with many leading artistic figures including Heinz Holliger, Sir Harrison Birtwhistle, Jonathan Harvey, Magnus Lindberg, Peter Eotvos and Luca Francesconi.
Oliver is also currently solo cellist of the Sinfonia Rotterdam chamber orchestra, and has appeared as solo cellist with ASKO Schoenberg, Amsterdam Sinfonietta, Holland Symfonia, Het Ballet Orkest, Postland and Insomnio Ensembles.
As a composer Oliver has written for orchestra, ensemble, quartet, and solo instruments, and is the founder and artistic leader of the James Whale Orchestra, for whom he has composed original soundtracks to be performed live with films including James Whale’s ‘Frankenstein’ and F.W. Murnau’s ‘City Girl’, a reconstruction of Max Steiner’s original score to ‘The Most Dangerous Game’ and the first ever full orchestra version of Yann Tiersen’s score for ‘Amelie’.
His live score for Alfred Hitchcock’s 1929 ‘Blackmail’, created for the Postland Ensemble, received its premiere at the Leiden International Film Festival 2022 to great acclaim, and has since been performed at more than twenty venues throughout the Netherlands. At the 2023 Noordelijk Film Festival the public voted ‘Blackmail’ best of festival.
Panayiotis Ioannou was first introduced to the world of digital music whilst studying computer science in Los Angeles, where he began working as a DJ at various local venues. Pursuing his creative interests he began studying music production and mixing at Point Blank electronic music school.
Since starting his own music production company in 2003 he has worked with clients such as Mercedes, Xerox, Toyota and Huawei, and has produced a number of tunes and sound effects for adverstising and promotion.
In 2018 Panayiotis joined the James Whale Orchestra as a music and sound producer He creates high tech virtual instruments which are combined with live players, making the JWO the most flexible live film orchestra there is.
Thomas Geerts is the newest addition to the JWO. A trumpeter and a conductor by training, Thomas is also a composer and music producer. After studies at the Amsterdam and Rotterdam Conservatoires, he co-founded the Amsterdam Brass Quintet, and began a playing and conducting career.
