The Central Iowa Symphony’s performance this Sunday is not what you would call a regular orchestral concert. Instead of performing music solely to the tempo of the conductor, the band will also have to keep up with the movie.The Central Iowa Symphony will be providing the music for the critically-acclaimed 1927 silent comedy film “The General,” written by Buster Keaton. Once the movie starts, the CIS will play 75 minutes of non-stop music. While there are planned breaks for individual instruments and sections, it will still be a demanding performance, said CIS director Mark Laycock. The idea for this music/movie combination was a product of Laycock’s love for movies and his background of classical music. “It’s a great way to draw into the concert hall movie fans who may have never attended a concert before,” Laycock said. The Central Iowa Symphony is made up of both professional and amateur local musicians, including several ISU students. Laycock directs the ISU Orchestra in addition to directing the Central Iowa Symphony. The number of members in the symphony varies each time it performs, Laycock said. Between six and 10 ISU students usually are on stage for each performance, and the full blown symphony includes anywhere from 70-80 members. This performance will only have about 50 members, due to student schedules and outside conflicts. While most silent movies were accompanied by solo pianists or theater organists, this will be a one of the rare times orchestra will be providing the music instead, Laycock said.For “The General,” the CIS will be playing a score composed specifically for the movie by Carl Davis. Davis has composed numerous scores for other silent movies as well, Stephanie Scherbart, 10 year member of the Symphony said.Sunday’s performance will be a unique opportunity to see one of the greatest silent comedies, as well as enjoy well-written music by an experienced composer, Laycock said.”It will be an interesting experience, and probably one that you won’t see very often,” Scherbart said. She also said “The General” is a very funny movie, and it consistently ends up on lists of the greatest comedies. “It’s one of the classic silent comedies, one of the best ever made,” Laycock said. The CIS will be converting the Ames City auditorium into a silent movie theater on Sunday, Feb. 18th at 3 p.m. Tickets are $10 for adults, $8 for seniors (65 and over) and $5 for K-12 students, as well as college students with ID. Single tickets as well as a variety of ticket packages are available at Big Table Books and Reiman Music in Ames, or by phone at (515) 239-5360.