NOVEMBER 2022: Apple Blossoms, the newest short film by the Rodrigues sisters screened at The Juilliard School’s Paul Recital Hall on Thursday, Nov 10th, 2022 for the culmination of the institution’s “Art of the Score” program, led by Dr. Edward Bilous at the Center for Innovation in the Arts. The program pairs composers with selected short films, recommended by the Gotham (formerly IFP).
Through a rare lullaby titled Apple Blossoms, a son reconciles with his mother who is slowly forgetting him. As her memory grows quiet, the song is revived by Juilliard composer Benjamin Pawlak who arranged the score for the film. Pawlak has played with the renowned New York Philharmonic, the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Princeton Symphony Orchestra.
The original music, written by Gustav H. Kline and Marion May, was originally recommended to the directors by Christopher Callen (lead actor playing the mother) who, in a rehearsal, sang the lyrics her late mother had passed along to her. The directors researched the song’s origination and found that Apple Blossoms was in the public domain and could be used in the film. Although no arrangement could be found, the filmmakers and composer took it as a challenge to lift the song off the sheet music and into an instrumental piece, the full version playing over the film’s credits.