Charlie Chaplin's The Kid with Live Piano Accompaniment

This is the first film in a series of silent movies with live piano accompaniment. It's the live music that makes that difference - watch a silent movie with no music at all and it's a surprisingly drab affair.

Mike Hatchard has a passion to restore the art of movie accompaniment, a profession that was lost almost entirely with the advent of the 'talkies'. A fascinating art that requires improvisatory skills and razor sharp reaction and which, in the hands of the right practictioner, always evokes a rapturous reception. Mike is not a purist - his music draws on more contemporary sources to produce scores that modern audiences can relate to easily rather than relying on twenties pastiche.