Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra bringing Disney film to life this weekend

On Saturday, families in Saskatoon can gather around a live orchestra at TCU Place to watch Disney’s Frozen Live in Concert.

From the first note to the last credit, the orchestra will play along in synch with the popular animated film.

Martin MacDonald, the guest conductor for the show, said it will be a unique experience to watch the film as the orchestra provides the soundtrack in real time.

“It’s really an experience like no other,” he said.

A giant screen will hang above the orchestra to show the film, MacDonald said, meaning all the music has to be timed down to the half second.

It takes a big orchestra to accomplish the task, MacDonald said, including quite a few auxiliary instruments such as drums, electric guitars, bass guitars and keyboards to provide the non-traditional sounds required to accompany the musical film. There will also be a live choir in addition to the instruments.

This will be MacDonald’s second time conducting along to a film with the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra. The first was an accompaniment to “The Muppet Christmas Carol” last December.

MacDonald said events like this have been successful in the past, especially bringing in families.

“It might be your first time to the orchestra, which is such a special experience for the musicians on stage to get to play for people, perhaps for the first time,” he said. “That’s always a special experience.”

MacDonald said playing live along with the film is both a thrilling and challenging experience.

No songs from the film will be missed during the performance, and MacDonald said every single note will be reproduced.

“The music never really stops,” he said.