"Shown together with excerpts from Gounod’s Faust and Friend’s music, this was certainly the most effective performance of The Phantom of the Opera this reviewer has seen...Friend’s music is exceptionally effective, conveying the emotional content displayed by the actors and giving life to the action scenes"
                                                                                                        1996 — THE CHRONICLE JOURNAL, Thunder Bay, Ont.
 
 

" [The selections] also included marvelous improvisations from Mr. Friend who has an accurate and deft touch of matching the emotional content on the screen with the music he was creating at the piano.
                                                                                                        1995 — THE CHRONICLE JOURNAL, Thunder Bay, Ont.
 
 

"Friend neatly dovetailed his own thematic material with orchestral selections where appropriate. His extemporized ‘phantom’ music conjured a sort of ethereal ragout of Prokofiev and Schumann, stirred into a gently bubbling bitonal broth which fir the mood of the picture like a glove.
                                                                                                                                    1997 — SPRINGFIELD UNION NEWS
 

"April 4, 1991. Dear Rick, On behalf of everyone involved with the orchestra, I would like to thank you once more for your terrific performance here - We have had lots of good comments since the performance, most of them something like 'How can he keep fitting such full-sounding music to the film for so long out of his head?' and then going to say how lovely it sounded. You have really astonished and pleased a lot of people simultaneously. After this success it may be something the orchestra will want to consider again.
                                                                                                    - Margaret Chasins, Manager, North Bay Symphony Orchestra
 

"November 20, 1990. Dear Rick, Many thanks for your splendid performance on Friday night. You turned what seemed to be a disaster into a triumph! I have had several reports from people who considered the evening one of the best filmgoing experiences they have had. Again, thank you."
                                                                                                    - James Quandt, Direct of Programming, Cinemateque Ontario
 

"Being a silent movie fanatic I had never seen Joan of Arc, the film, but had read about it when they found missing footage. The experience was far beyond what I thought it would be. I was mesmerized. The score fit the film brilliantly. It was completely moving. I've seen a lot of silent movies - scored and otherwise. It brings the whole film to life. Every single person should be able to experience such a rich moment in a film theatre. It was incredible. In the burning scene, the music propels you through the closing scene. "
                                                                                                                - Daniel Pellerin, sound engineer, Deluxe Film Labs

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