Genre
Synopsis
ORCHESTRATED is a feature documentary about the first all-Black symphony orchestra in the United States—the
Negro Symphony Orchestra (NSO), founded in 1930s. Under the leadership of Harlem's leading activists and thinkers, this
virtually unknown project brought together over a hundred classically trained African American musicians. Their efforts and
dreams were to culminate with a debut at Carnegie Hall in 1939 followed by European tour, but never did. Why?
To tell the NSO’s story in the context of a century-long Black struggle for an equal place in classical music, ORCHESTRATED
follows an NYU professor, pianist, podcaster, and BLM activist Kyle P. Walker, determined to bring the NSO out of oblivion.
Bio
Natalia Iyudin had her start in the industry as a television editor and film programmer. During 2014-2018, she helped launch an Academy-Award winning Fictionless, founded by Raeshem Nijhon (“Rebel Music”) and Ross Kaufman (“Born into Brothels,” “Tigerland”). While there, she lead development on “Girly”, with Refinery29 and Rashida Jones; and a series on women of hip-hop for Netflix. Natalia has made acclaimed short films, most notably "Us. A Family Album" and “The Garden,” starring Sophia Lillis (“It,” “Sharp Objects”), acquired by DUST (Gunpowder & Sky). She also directed for Toyota, IBM, the National Council for Behavioral Health; and, in 2017, co-created “We Got You,” an award-winning digital series with Tarik "Black Thought" of The Roots. She debuted on television with Vera Miao's arthouse horror series for the CW, alongside Tayarisha Poe, Rania Attieh and Nikyatu; having directed Jim Parrack ("True Blood") and Nicole Kang (“Swallow," "Batwoman") in the season’s premiere, and Kate Jennings Grant (“Notorious”) in “Scion.” Natalia’s work was featured in the Filmmaker Magazine and HuffPost. She’s a graduate of the Krzysztof Kieslowski School of Film & TV in her native Poland.
Credits
Producer - Robert Salyer
Advisor - Sam Pollard
Creative Supervisor - Ross Kauffman
