The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences has been handing out Oscars for movie music since 1934.

It's a little strange that it took even that long (the Oscars began seven years earlier) when you consider what a key role scoring has played in the success of movies.

Silent movies were nearly always accompanied by live music, starting with the first public projection by the Lumiere Brothers in Paris in 1895. From the start, music was used to help create a mood or guide the audience when emotional shifts occurred in the story.

By 1915, most big-city movie theaters had organists or ensembles of musicians. Even humble small-town and neighborhood theaters had a pianist. In fact, in the silent era, movies employed more instrumental musicians in the United States than any other enterprise.

That changed very quickly in 1927, when a system was invented to synchronize a recorded soundtrack to the onscreen images. The talkies were devastating for musicians just as the Depression hit the country.

Starting Tuesday at Film Streams, a Silents in Concert series will bring back the era of live music and movies for six evenings over the next two months.

Just as in the silent era, the Film Streams events will include pre-written scores, as well as original scoring and improvisation just for this one-time event. The musicians playing at Film Streams' Ruth Sokolof Theater, 14th and Mike Fahey Streets, are mostly contemporary and linked to Saddle Creek Records but bring a wide range of approaches to accompanying them.

The kickoff at 7 p.m. Tuesday will feature the Alloy Orchestra, a three-man ensemble known nationally for accompanying silent films with a combination of found percussion instruments and state-of-the-art electronics.

They were last at Film Streams a year ago for a sold-out performance to Fritz Lang's "Metropolis." This time Alloy will accompany a series of silent short films. Tickets are $18 for nonmembers, $16 for students, senior citizens, teachers and military, and $14 for Film Streams members.

Other events on the Silents in Concert agenda begin at 7 p.m. Tickets are $12 for nonmembers, $10 for students, senior citizens, teachers and military, and $8 for Film Streams members. The lineup:

Oct. 21: "Nosferatu" (1922), accompanied by Todd Fink (The Faint), Orenda Fink (Azure Ray) and Ben Brodin (Before the Toast and Tea). Expect a combination of pump organ, sound effects, loops and ethereal vocals. They like telling a story with music.

Nov. 10: "The Adventures of Prince Achmed" (1926), accompanied by Ryan Fox, Jake Bellows and Ben Brodin. Based on "The Arabian Nights," this German release is considered the first full-length animated film. Expect a unique sound using computers and dirty guitar with feedback, emphasizing mood and suggestion rather than melody or rhythm.

Dec. 1: "The Endless Summer" (1966), accompanied by Matteah Baim. Okay, this ode to surfing is a talkie — but they'll turn the sound down for Baim to do her thing. This progressive and experimental New York City musician is into classic surfer music and art rock.

Dec. 6: "People on Sunday" (1930), accompanied by Nick White & Friends. A group of young Berliners escapes the city for a weekend by a lake in this sun-kissed period hit. White, from Atlanta, is a member of the Omaha band Tilly and the Wall. Bandmate Derek Pressnall and other friends will join him for this gig. Expect original, beautiful piano themes.

Dec. 15: "The General" (1922), accompanied by Jim Boston. Buster Keaton's physical masterpiece is about a train engineer who sets out to single-handedly win the Civil War. Boston, who donated a piano to Film Streams and who plays it every Friday afternoon at opening time, loves old-time music, including ragtime. He founded the Great Plains Ragtime Society to promote old-time piano in the area. His approach will be closest to what you might have heard back in the 1920s.

Film Streams director Rachel Jacobson said contemporary musicians playing for silent films is a national trend at cinematheques, one she's happy to continue in Omaha.

"Live music and contemporary interpretation bridge the experience of watching films from 90 years ago," she said. "People are motivated to come see the musicians like they're motivated to see a rock show, even though they've never seen a silent film. But then they get the movie experience as well."

Stay tuned. Jacobson has more musicians waiting in the wings to accompany live screenings in the future.