Soon, students and faculty and musicians from the surrounding community will dust off their cowboy boots, don their dusters, and gallop onstage for the University of Lynchburg’s annual “Night at the Movies” concert, “The Western Frontier: Cowboys on the Silver Screen.”
The concert, featuring the Wind Symphony and Orchestra and Community Big Band, will be held at 7:30 p.m. February 19, 20, and 21, in Sydnor Performance Hall.
The night will include music from a variety of iconic western movies, among them “City Slickers,” “Annie Get Your Gun,” “The Magnificent Seven,” “How the West Was Won,” “Dances with Wolves,” and “Blazing Saddles.” A highlight of the evening will be the “The Ludlows,” the eight-minute-long, James Horner-composed theme from “Legends of the Fall.”
In addition to performances by the Wind Symphony and Orchestra, directed by Dr. Oeida Hatcher, and the Community Big Band, directed by Dr. Chris Magee, there will be vocal performances by Cassi Robertson ’20 and Sloane Kelly ’22, who recently appeared in the University’s holiday concert.
Also, Dr. Clifton Potter, professor emeritus of history at Lynchburg, will appear as Wild West showman Buffalo Bill Cody.
According to Hatcher, everything in Sydnor Performance Hall will get the Wild West treatment. “It will look like a western show, from ushers to people performing — all in cowboy gear,” she said. “It’s very theatrical, but a concert.”
There will also be film clips or smaller musical groups performing during set changes, or as Hatcher puts it, “while we’re herding cattle on and off stage.”
Tickets for “Night at the Movies” are free, but required. For tickets, contact Anne Wilkinson at wilkinson@lynchburg.edu or 434.544.8344.
