CELEBRATING SUCCESS (A CONCERTO IS A CONVERSATION)

 

Kris Bowers has had a stellar career as a musician and a composer.

A talented pianist, he won the 2011 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Piano Competition at the age of 22.

But he is best known for his scores for films and television, winning an Emmy for his work on the 2016 Amazon Prime animation 'A Snowy Day'.

Among the other films and TV shows he has written scores for are Peter Farrelly's Best Picture Oscar winning 'Green Book,' Netflix's powerful Central Park Five drama 'When They See Us' and the upcoming 'Space Jam: A New Legacy'.

Success has many fathers.

However in the case of the Ava DuVernay produced Oscar nominated short 'A Concerto Is A Conversation,' he has co-directed with Ben Proudfoot, it has a grandfather as well and his life is also worth celebrating.

Horace Bowers Sr is a 92 year old entrepreneur who grew up in poverty in rural Florida whose decision to leave was prompted by racism.

In the 13 minute film produced for the New York Times, he tells Kris how watching his father being called a boy by a six year old white kid hit him hard.

 “That stuck with me forever,” he recalls. 

“Why are you calling my daddy boy?”

Horace boarded a bus and left the Jim Crow South on an epic journey that would take him to California.

Resourceful, he talked his way into a job pressing suits by pretending to be from a hiring agency and eventually acquired his own business.

He reveals during the conversation with his grandson, he figured out in California that racism there was also blocking his path as a businessman. 

The way to secure loans to grow his business was not to apply in person at a bank but to do it entirely by paperwork.

That way, officials could not make decisions based on the colour of his skin.

Beautifully shot by cinematographers David Bolen and Brandon Somerhalder, 'A Concerto is a Conversation' magically weaves Horace's life story with tales of Kris's achievements as a pianist and his preparations for a new concerto he has written 'For A Younger Self' which is receiving its premiere at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles.

Asked by his grandfather to define what a concerto is, Kris explains it is a conversation between the soloist and the orchestra.

That concept is mirrored in the structure of Bowers and Proudfoot's heartwarming short film, although it is left to the audience to decide if the grandfather or grandson is the soloist.

'A Concerto Is A Conversation' stands out from other entries on the Oscars shortlist for Best Documentary Short because of its uplifting tone and the beautiful blue and amber palettes which Bolen and Somerhalder use to capture their subjects.

It makes the heart glow and amid all the misery that bombards us through social and mainstream media, that is a rare quality.

('A Concerto Is A Conversation' premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 28, 2021 and is available for streaming on YouTube)

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