Tom Teasley: A Jazz Soundscape & Comic Greats of the Silent Film Era

Award-winning percussionist and internationally acclaimed musician Tom Teasley performs an original American Jazz live score to accompany two silent comedy classics starring two legendary figures and comic actors of the silent film era. 

Charlie Chaplin's The Adventurer, with its slapstick humor and some of Chaplin's most irresistible pantomime, will be shown on the big screen along with Buster Keaton's Sherlock, Jr., famous for its deadpan humor and hilariously funny sight gags. Teasley's soundtrack, inspired by physical comedy, layers all manner of percussion and unusual instruments with digital technology, heightening the dramatic moments and action in the films. The PVCC Music Club and motion graphics students will also participate in the screening.

Tom Teasley is a critically acclaimed, award-winning musician, composer and sound designer. Among other honors, he received numerous Fullbright-Hays Awards for international collaborations, was named "World Percussionist of the Year" by Drum! Magazine and won three Helen Hayes Awards for his work in theatrical productions. His work with the U.S. State Department had him perform in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Iraq, Samoa, Oman, and Jerusalem. Teasley has been described as "a percussionist in the widest and most exuberant sense of the word, musical wizard and multi-instrumental genius" by The Washington Post. 

The performance is part of Teasley's 2-day residency at the college and follows an evening concert, Tom Teasley's Cross-Cultural Ensemble.

Main Stage Theatre, V. Earl Dickinson Building

This performance is supported in part by the Virginia Commission for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts. Media support provided by CBS19 News.