„The (almost always sold-out) performances are of a fascinating intensity as conductor Marcelo Falcão and his musicians succeed something wonderful: they create a magic zone between film and audience“ – Die Zeit.
Marcelo Falcão is a conductor and arranger specializing in ciné-concert — the art of live orchestral performance with silent and classic films. With over 100 ciné-concert performances across Europe and South America, he is one of the leading figures in this field. Co-founder and music director of the Babylon Orchester Berlin (2019–2020), the resident orchestra of the historic Babylon Cinema in Berlin, he serves as music director of the Mostra Cine São Pedro – Música e Cinema, a festival produced in partnership with the Instituto Goethe and the Cinemateca Brasileira. His productions include Metropolis, Nosferatu, Fausto, Battleship Potemkin, O Tempo e o Vento, Ganga Bruta, As Aventuras do Príncipe Achmed, and the world premiere of his orchestration of Caiçara (1950) — a restored score by Francisco Mignone, recovered from original manuscripts at the Biblioteca Nacional in Rio de Janeiro. His arrangement of Nosferatu is published by Ries & Erler, Berlin. His work with the Babylon Orchester Berlin was praised by Die Zeit for creating “a magic zone between film and audience.” Marcelo Falcão performs regularly at the Theatro São Pedro in São Paulo and has presented projects in Germany and France.
He is currently Assistant Conductor of the Orquestra Sinfônica de Santo André, Brazil. He was a scholarship holder at the renowned Festival de Campos de Jordão in São Paulo and has conducted orchestras such as the Minas Gerais Philharmonic Orchestra, Russian National Orchestra, Georgian National Philharmonic Orchestra, Saint-Petersburg Youth Orchestra, Argovia Philharmonic, Orquestra Sinfônica da USP, MÀV Budapest Orchestra and ensembles such as Ensemble NAMES Salzburg and Divertimento Ensemble. In summer 2021, he took part at Taschenopernfestival in Salzburg, where he conducted performances of the opera “The Kiss” by Wolfgang Mitterer.
He studied double bass and composition in Rio de Janeiro, and holds a bachelor’s degree in Musicology and Art History from the Humboldt Universität in Berlin. He has specialized in contemporary music conducting in Switzerland with Arturo Tamayo and has also been mentored by Sandro Gorli and Peter Rundel. He earned a scholarship for master’s studies in orchestral conducting David Jones’ class at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, where he was awarded a merit.