Concert Programs

Film Director, Soloist

Lucas van Woerkum

Dutch

Lucas van Woerkum is a Dutch film director and the creator of Symphonic Cinema, a format in which a silent drama film is performed with a live orchestra and edited in real time to follow the players. He trained as a horn player before turning to film, and began with documentaries about music and composers. The first Symphonic Cinema film, The Isle of the Dead, after Rachmaninoff, dates from 2011. It was followed by Firebird, after Stravinsky, Daphnis & Chloe, after Ravel, The Echo of Being, set to music from Mahler’s symphonies, and LOSS, made for Holst’s The Planets. In performance he sits on stage with a touchpad and triggers each shot himself, speeding the film up or slowing it down to match the orchestra.

With

London Symphony Orchestra

Performs in

Upcoming

Sources 3

  1. Symphonic Cinema: The Planets, 31 January 2027, 6pm, London Symphony Orchestra Cited in Symphonic Cinema: Holst’s The Planets. Accessed 7 October 2026.
  2. Moving Pictures: Lucas van Woerkum on Symphonic Cinema, Sydney Symphony Orchestra Cited in Symphonic Cinema: Holst’s The Planets. Accessed 7 October 2026.
  3. Silent Film Created to Accompany Performance of Holst’s ‘The Planets’, The Violin Channel Cited in Symphonic Cinema: Holst’s The Planets. Accessed 7 October 2026.