Neil Thomson: Music Conductor on Gene Kelly: A Life in Music

Saturday Morning with Jack Tame

Next year, the Auckland Philharmonia will perform an incredible one-night-only performance of ‘Gene Kelly: A Life in Music’.

The show is a mesmerising trip down memory lane, with a combination of film clips, stories and live performance highlighting the legendary dancer, director and choreographer Gene Kelly – who celebrated and popularised dance within mainstream cinema.

Leading the orchestra, is musical conductor extraordinaire Neil Thomson, who has worked with orchestras across the world.

He's currently Principal Conductor and Artistic Director at Orquestra Filarmônica de Goiás (Philharmonic Orchestra of Goiás).

Thomson told Jack Tame he has a personal connection with this show, having done a many of the films live with symphony orchestra around 10-15 years ago.

“I was booked to do Singing in the Rain at the Albert Hall,” he said, explaining that it was the first time the film had been done in that format.

“About a month before the show, I got this email and the title was ‘From Mrs Gene Kelly’,” he revealed.

“And I had this very friendly note just saying she was going to be introducing the show, and it would be nice to meet me, and everything.”

Thomson says that he and Patricia got on rather well, and began to work together more often, leading to this very show highlighting the extent of Gene Kelly’s musical talent.

“The films have been absolutely scrubbed up,” he told Tame.

“You’ve never seen prints like it. I mean, it’s fantastic, they’re so clean. The sound is so clean.”

LISTEN ABOVE

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.