Oscar-winning film music composer Jan A.P.Kaczmarek is working on what is probably his most original commission – a theatre signal.

It is a signal gong for the Grand Opera Theatre in Poznań, five-second piece of music which gathers members of the audience from the foyer to auditorium.

The composer told the Polish Press Agency that it will not be a traditional electromechanical gong but a gentle chord played by the string orchestra, a choral phrase and a sequence for solo instrument. The gong will have several versions, to be played before the start of the performance and at the end of successive intermissions.

The piece is Jan A.P. Kaczmarek’s gift to the Grand Opera Theatre in Poznań, which celebrates its centenary this year. The gong will sound for the first time in September during the performance of Mozart’s The Magic Flute by the  Staatsoper of Berlin. The opening production one hundred years ago was also The Magic Flute.

Fifty seven year-old Jan A. P. Kaczmarek has a degree in law from the University of Poznan but soon after graduation he abandoned his planned career as a diplomat and focused on music. He first made a name for himself writing incidental music for the theatre. Having moved to America in 1989, he directed multimedia shows and worked for theatre companies before skyrocketing to fame. He has written soundtracks to such films as Agnieszka Holland’s Washington Square, Adrian Lyne’s Unfaithful and John Kent Harrison’s The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler. (mk)