The Rochester native and Grammy‑nominated musician Jared Engel will debut *The Old Ball Game* at the Dryden Theatre on September 26, 2026, as part of the city’s Fringe Festival schedule.
A Fusion of Film, Music and Baseball
The program pairs two freshly commissioned short films — *Day of the Catch* (2025) and *The Mascot Race* (2026) — with a live musical score performed by Engel and a pit ensemble, turning the silent‑film experience into a concert‑like event.
Both works were conceived specifically for live accompaniment, allowing the rhythm of the baseball narrative to sync with the swell of the orchestra, a technique that distinguishes Engel’s approach from traditional silent‑film scoring.
Originally premiered in Brooklyn, *The Mascot Race* makes its first Rochester appearance at the George Eastman Museum’s historic theater, continuing the institution’s long‑standing commitment to presenting silent cinema with live music.
Engel, who has collaborated with artists such as Abigail Washburn, David Grisman and Tony Trischka, founded the Musicians’ Baseball Club of Brooklyn (FUMBL) during the pandemic as a virtual gathering for New York musicians, later expanding the concept into a series of public performances.
The George Eastman Museum, a photography and film archive established in 1947, provides the venue and curatorial support for the event, underscoring its role as a steward of film preservation and experimental programming.
Tickets and Details
Tickets are priced at $15 for non‑members and $13 for George Eastman Museum members, with sales opening ahead of the September date.
The Old Ball Game exemplifies a growing trend where musicians, filmmakers and cultural institutions collaborate to re‑imagine historic art forms for contemporary audiences, using baseball’s rich visual and narrative lexicon as a springboard.
While the program is anchored in nostalgia, its live‑scoring format invites improvisation, ensuring each performance is a distinct conversation between film, music and the audience, a dynamic that promises to influence future multimedia presentations in the region.