Silent Film Classic Scored to Live Classical Guitar

The worlds of classical guitar and circus carnies finally merge this month—when the chilling silent-era suspense film, The Unknown, is presented in accompaniment with a new dual-guitar and violin score at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas in Austin, Texas.

Co-commissioned in 2012 by the Alamo Drafthouse theater chain and the Austin Classical Guitar Society, the score was composed by European-based duo Les Freres Meduses—guitarists Randall Avers and Benoit Albert—who will be joined by Miro Quartet violinist William Fedkenheuer September 11 and 12 to perform the work at a screening of The Unknown at the Alamo’s South Lamar location.

The score weaves together original music with well-known classical and folk interludes by such composers as Maurice Ravel, Isaac Albeniz, and others.


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Directed by Tod Browning (Dracula, Freaks), the 1927 film stars Lon Chaney as a fugitive posing as an armless knife thrower for a traveling circus; Joan Crawford co-stars as his out-of-reach love interest.

The film begins at 7pm and has a running time of 78 minutes. The theater is at 1120 South Lamar Blvd., Austin, Texas. For information, visit