'Ben Hur' with the Seattle Rock Orchestra

Trader Joe's Silent Movie Mondays presents Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1925). Featuring Stewart Copeland on drums and percussion with Seattle Rock Orchestra.

Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ is a 1925 American epic silent film directed by Fred Niblo, starring Ramón Novarro and Francis X. Bushman, based on the 1880 novel by Lew Wallace. Ben-Hur was the most expensive silent film ever made, with an enormous cast and crew and a visual scope that is breathtaking to this day. In 1997, Ben-Hur was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

In 2010, legendary drummer from the band The Police and film score composer Stewart Copeland was asked to compose a score for an arena spectacle of the original book including the iconic chariot scene and marine battle. It ran throughout Europe including Munich, Rome, and the O2 Arena in London. Copeland was commissioned by the Virginia Arts Festival to edit the Niblo classic film and re-assemble his score for live performance with orchestra.

About Seattle Rock Orchestra

Seattle Rock Orchestra doesn't hide behind a rock band ... it is the rock band! SRO utilizes strings, woodwinds, brass, percussion, and a rotating cast of exciting guest vocalists to deliver high energy tribute shows unlike any other. SRO was founded in 2008 by bassist, composer, and educator Scott Teske. Music Director and Conductor extraordinaire Kim Roy quickly came aboard in 2010 to tame our unruly gang of musical misfits with her unique panache. In 2012, SRO began its expansion into a full-fledged arts organization with the introduction of the Seattle Rock Orchestra Summer Intensive, a week long summer day camp for middle & high school musicians, which now hosts two sessions at Seattle's Moore Theatre and at Kirkland Performance Center.

Over the years SRO has racked up an impressive resume that includes collaborations with the likes of Elvis Costello, Macklemore, DeVotchKa, Sir Mix-a-Lot, Damien Jurado, DRAM, Allen Stone, and members of Big Star, The Posies, R.E.M., Nada Surf, and Pearl Jam, on stages across Washington State, including Seattle's Paramount, Moore & Neptune Theatres, Sasquatch Music Festival, Summer Meltdown Festival, and Timber Outdoor Music Festival.