Music’s descriptive magic, written by women and about women
Marin Alsop & Laura Karpman, co-curators.

Marin Alsop and Emmy-winning composer Laura Karpman co-curate highlights on original orchestral music’s magic in screen storytelling. A 30-year veteran of prestige TV, documentary, game, and Marvel scores, Karpman has collaborated with some of the most renowned filmmakers of our time, including Francis Ford Coppola, Cord Jefferson, Nia DaCosta, and Steven Spielberg. Nominated for an Oscar in 2024 for her work on American Fiction, Karpman continues to push the boundaries of storytelling with her powerful, imaginative scores.

With performances by Alsop and the CSO, Karpman demonstrates how music can guide interpretation of a film scene, sharpening dramatic tension and revealing layers of meaning that might otherwise remain unseen. Together, Karpman and Alsop bring the focus to women composers—long under-represented on the screen—sharing music by the likes of Shirley Walker, Hildur Guðnadóttir, Rachel Portman, and Chanda Dancy. Alsop premieres Karpman’s Unsung, featuring music for iconic female characters who never before had a theme, and Taki Alsop Fellow Chi-Yuan Lin leads Star Wars themes by John Williams and Natalie Holt, the first woman to compose for the storied franchise.

This centerpiece of the fifth Breaking Barriers Festival is bookended by a pre-concert panel and, before Saturday’s concert, an extended live demonstration of music setting film moods.

< Back to Calendar of Events