Film Music Concerts: The Emperor’s New Clothes? was a highly debated panel discussion held during SoundTrack_Cologne 14 in August 2017, Germany’s most popular conference of music and sound in movies, TV and games.

The session addressed a provocative question: Is the massive boom of live film music concerts across Europe a wonderful treat for fans or a potential threat to the integrity of the art form?

Curated by IFMCA and film music critic Eleni Mitsiaki, moderated by film music/concert composer and Gregor Schwellenbach and joined by film music critics David Serong (Cinema Musica / IFMCA) and Jörg Gerle (Filmdienst), the panel explored the rapid proliferation of major film music festivals and arena tours across Europe (such as those in Ghent, Krakow, Malaga, Tenerife, Vienna, and Prague). The experts debated the artistic convenience and commercial viability of stripping movie scores of their visuals. They examined the pros and cons of staging standalone orchestral suites versus performing complete scores live-to-picture (“Live in Concert” format).

Ultimately, the panel didn’t dismiss the trend but rather challenged the industry to look past the financial hype and question whether these massive commercial events truly serve the art of film composition or simply commodify it.