Friday, October 2, 2026 | 7:30 PM | General Admission
NATIONAL SILENT MOVIE DAY is September 29! Join us just three days later for a special screening of the long-lost first theatrical version of Snow White (1916) with live musical accompaniment.
Everyone knows Disney’s 1937 animated film classic, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs; but few are aware that a teenage Walt Disney growing up in Kansas City saw the original silent movie of the fairy tale. It was this 1916 silent film that inspired him to blaze a path in filmmaking and make his own version 21 years later.
Like all silent films, Snow White was made on flammable nitrate film stock; and for many years, it was rumored to have been destroyed in a vault fire. But a single theatrical print was discovered in the Netherlands in 1992; and, a heroic restoration was performed by the George Eastman House film archive.
Since the Opera House dates all the way back to the silent film era, it may not be the first time this film has been presented here. But now, Seattle Harpist/Composer Leslie McMichael will perform her original score live on the concert harp for this 63-minute film, accompanied by her sister Barbara McMichael on viola.
Northwest Film Forum commissioned McMichael to compose a new score for Snow White in 2016; and the 100-year-old film and McMichael’s live music premiered at opening night of Children’s Film Festival Seattle that year. Since then, the old film and new live score have toured across the country.
How did McMichael approach the project of scoring the film? The harpist says that her DVD remote and digital timer were two modern tools that she relied on to compose a soundtrack that seamlessly fits the onscreen action. After watching the 63-minute film and writing longhand notes about every scene and character, she developed musical themes to reflect the moods in the storyline. Certain motifs reappear in her score whenever a character appears – sweet Snow White has specific music, as does the Witch, the Huntsman, the Prince, and, of course, the Seven Dwarves!
A graduate of Wellesley College, McMichael’s musical pursuits include performance, teaching, recording, and composition. She has toured the U.S., is on the faculty of Music Center of the Northwest, and is a teaching artist with the Seattle Symphony.
From solo music on concert, Celtic and electric harps, to composing, arranging and recording original music; from Suzuki Method lessons for youth, to harp classes for adults; from coffeehouses to concert halls … every day is different and fun in McMichael’s musical life!
