One Sentence Movie Reviews: “Freeway Philharmonic”
Freeway Philharmonic (2008): "To sacrifice in the name of something you love is a question of degree"
Notes: Cariwyl had an advanced copy of this one (advantages to dating a classical musician!) so we saw it right before I left for Austin. Very interesting documentary about freelance classical musicians in the Bay Area who drive thousands of miles every year and play in multiple orchestras, ensembles and schools in order to make their living as classical musicians. Filmmaker Tal Skloot does not answer what I thought were two crucial questions (1. Does this phenomenon exist outside the Bay Area? and 2. What does this say about the economics of classical music in the modern world) but that might have been a lot to ask of a one hour documentary on public TV (it’s part of KQED’s Truly California series) but for what it is this is great documentary making.
And it’s available on DVD for $25.