Accompanist Dean Mora was born and raised in Los Angeles, and is a recent transplant to the Sacramento area; his interest in pre-WWII America was forged early on as a child (at 11 he went to see the motion picture “The Sting” and was instantly hooked). Shortly after receiving his Bachelor of Music degree at CSU Northridge, Dean was offered the job of accompanying silent films at the Silent Movie Theatre in Hollywood. At this time Dean studied theatre organ with the legendary Gaylord Carter, learning all the tricks and techniques needed to effectively accompany a silent film. Dean played every week at the Silent Movie Theatre for six years, accompanying over 200 movies. He also played for screenings attended by silent films stars such as Buddy Rogers, Anita Page, Lina Basquette, and Gilbert Roland, in addition to modern stars such as Johnny Depp, Robert Downey Jr., Leonardo DiCaprio, Brendan Fraser, and John Candy. Since then, Dean has performed in other venues such as the Orpheum Theatre (Los Angeles), Copley Hall (San Diego), Fox Theatre (Hanford, CA), and the Nethercutt Museum (Sylmar, CA). In addition, he has also performed at film festivals in various locales, including The Roger Ebert Film Festival in Champaign, IL, the UCLA Film Archives Series, The Motion Picture Arts & Sciences Academy in Beverly Hills, CA, and the Silent Movie Film Festival in Osaka, Japan.
http://www.dailydemocrat.com/business/20160908/silent-movies-coming-to-woodland-opera-house
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