Conductor Shelbie Rassler takes on Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Live in Concert this Sunday

Shelbie Rassler. // photo courtesy the artist

While live film scores have become a major industry, many of them are standard orchestral compositions that might liven things up with an electric guitar solo, at best. Composer Daniel Pemberton’s work for the two animated Spider-Verse films turns all of that upside down. In addition to standard orchestration and instrumentation, the music for both Into the Spider-Verse and Across the Spider-Verse features DJs scratching and remixing the orchestration as it goes. It’s as though the music is moving between dimensions as much as the characters are.

After the smash success of last year’s performance of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Live in Concert at Johnson County Community College’s Midwest Trust Center (described in a patron survey response as “the dopest shit I’ve seen”), the sequel will now get the same treatment when Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Live in Concert takes place on Sunday, September 29.

Ahead of its performance, we hopped on Zoom with conductor Shelbie Rassler to discuss taking on this project as her first-ever live score experience.

The Pitch: You have had a lot of experience regarding film and television composition in the past. What is it like being responsible for someone else’s music?

Shelbie Rassler: It’s definitely a huge responsibility that I’m working really hard to prepare for, and just really studying the score and the movie to make sure that I know exactly how the music functions and how it really does bring every piece of the movie together and heighten the emotional intensity of those heartfelt moments, and also the drama in the adventurous moments and the action and everything.

It’s a huge responsibility and something that I’m so excited to help facilitate bringing all of that together and getting to share this incredible movie in this new, exciting way to audiences all over the country. It’s going to be awesome.

What challenges does having a live DJ on stage present for you as a composer, as a conductor, because I have to imagine that is not a usual member of the orchestra there on stage?

That’s right. That’s exactly right. Yes, this is something that is very new for me. I’m so excited to see how that all kind of comes together. But you’re exactly right–it’s something that you don’t often see on stage with a full orchestra and just another unique part of this experience that I, certainly, as a child would have loved to enter a huge concert hall and see a huge orchestra on stage with a DJ and a movie that I love so much. It’s just all of those elements together. It’s so exciting and certainly a challenge to keep track of everything and a lot of moving parts, but I’m working hard to make sure we go into it prepared and, and ready to dive into the Spider-Verse.

Have you ever done conducting to a live film in the past?

You know, I’ve done a lot of film scoring sessions where I’m conducting the orchestra to be recorded for then mixing and mastering and being part of a film score later but this is the first time that I’m getting to do all of this live and what an incredible film to have this be my first right out of the gate. Again, with all of these moving parts and keeping track of where we’re at in the score and making sure everything is syncing up with the dialogue and all of the little pieces that come together to create this film, keeping track of all of that is an adventure in and of itself.

This film has a lot of needle drops, in addition to Daniel Pemberton’s score. Does the orchestra lend anything to those in terms of the live performance?

Absolutely. Having that live element, it feels different than just sitting in and watching the movie. Watching the movie is an incredible experience and then, to have that life being breathed into it right in front of you through the music, it’s just something that is, is so special and so unique.

One of the many things that you do is that you do orchestration for the Candlelight Concerts, and I’m curious if doing that has helped you in terms of this job, where you’re also helping interpret someone else’s music?

Yeah, no, definitely. there’s a lot of overlap when it comes to arranging and orchestrating and conducting. I feel very lucky to be able to dip my toes into all of those different worlds. With the Candlelight Concerts, I’m given a piece of music that I’ve heard on the radio and anyone has heard on the radio a million times. It’s the question of how do we bring something new and something unique to it and how do we take something and just give it a little extra–a little extra seasoning on top to give it some new life?

I feel like that’s exactly what we’re doing here with Spider-Man. We’re bringing this story that everyone has seen in so many different ways and forms throughout decades and getting to have this new wave of these live concert experiences. Having the responsibility of someone else’s work, composed by the incredible Daniel Pemberton, and having all these amazing musicians that are just totally on board with giving 100% of themselves every single night? It’s just a magical grouping of all of those many things.

Spiderverse Concert. // photo credit Ma2la

You attended two of the most highly prestigious musical colleges out there, both Julliard and Berklee. How did those experiences shape what you do now, being amongst the best of the best of the best when it musical performance?

Yeah. Thank you for saying that. Definitely, I owe everything of the artist and the musician that I want to be. and I’m trying to be to Boston Conservatory, Berklee College of Music and Julliard and all of the many mentors and teachers and administrators and friends that, along the way, have helped me become who I am and continue becoming who I want to be.

Music school is incredible. I feel so fondly, looking back on that time–just thinking about the collaboration and really learning how to work with people and learning how to, as a musician, share my ideas to dancers that I might not know the exact terminology of how dancing works, but I know, through those experiences in college and grad school, how to really create that collaborative feeling and spirit in any room that we’re in and break down those barriers of language and other things–the nitty gritty of what we each do–to bridge those gaps and, and create something bigger than all of us together.

I did a ton of conducting in college and that really put me on the track to where I am today, in terms of igniting that passion for conducting and composing and in grad school, continuing that and really focusing a lot on film scoring and again, bringing people together in these ensembles and working on my own music and other people’s music and just always trying to meet new people and creating new collaborative energy.

What better an experience of multidisciplinary everything than the Spider-Man tour? It’s just all of those things together, which I just love more than anything. It’s awesome.

Spiderverse Concert. // photo credit Ma2la

You talk about balancing so many things. How do you balance both your own work and interpreting others’ work, and all of that with travel? It seems that you’ve been to so many places during your career so far.

Thank you. It’s a juggle, you know? Like most things in life, there’s a lot of give and take. I am so beyond grateful for every single experience and opportunity that I’ve had. I just came back yesterday from music directing the Vail Dance Festival out in Colorado for a couple of weeks. To be able to have these short yet intense experiences where we have this goal and we have two weeks to make it happen, and we did, and now it’s over, and now I’m home, and I’m gonna rest for a few weeks, and then on to Spider-Man–it’s a time where it’s all so exciting and I also just rake a sec, step back, and just have some relaxation and rest sprinkled throughout to keep going and pushing forward.

Just so grateful for the opportunities. And again, I’ve never experienced anything like this tour that we’re about to go on. It’s something that has always been a dream and to get to see these many cities and meet these many people and work with these incredible people–it’s just something that I’m very, very excited and grateful for.

What’s your favorite film score–obviously, other than Across the Spider-Verse?

That is a great question. My teacher at Julliard, Mr. John Corigliano, is one of my absolute role models and beyond. Just an incredible, incredible influence on me. His score for The Red Violin, he won an Oscar for it, and it is one of the most just important pieces of music for my educational journey of what film scoring even is.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Live in Concert takes place on Sunday, September 29 at Johnson County Community College’s Midwest Trust Center. Details on that show here.