Alloy Orchestra

Cambridge-based Alloy Orchestra — the trio of Ken Winokur, Terry Donahue and Caleb Sampson — formed in the mid 1980s, but had their first gig at Boston’s First Night at the end of 1990, presenting a unique mix of high-energy, percussion-driven, yet very melodic sounds on keyboards and “found” instruments. The following year they hit their groove, performing an original score as accompaniment to three screenings of the silent film classic Metropolis at Brookline’s Coolidge Corner Theatre. Other scores to other silent movies followed – among them The General, Phantom of the Opera, The Black Pirate – as did a huge local following and requests to play at film festivals and venues around the world. After Sampson’s suicide in 1999, Roger Miller (Mission of Burma) joined the band, which still tours regularly.
(by Ed Symkus)