While the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra’s Rockin’ Orchestra Series often focuses on rock acts like the Beatles and Pink Floyd, the series title is really meant to signify that a particular program isn’t focused on classical music.
The DPO is expanding that meaning again with the Queens of Soul concert at the Schuster Center in Dayton on Saturday, Jan. 4.
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This Rockin’ Orchestra Series show features guest vocalists Shayna Steele, Brie Cassil and Tamika Lawrence and guest drummer Jacob Navarro tackling R&B material by singing legends like Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, Alicia Keys and Donna Summer.
“It’s a great list of singers,” DPO artist director Neal Gittleman said. “There are songs by Tina Turner, Patti LaBelle and Adele, so it’s a mix of the great classic names but also some of the newer names and that’s one of the things I liked about the show. Sure, if you had a show that was all Aretha, Tina and Gladys Knight, I’d be happy — but it’s nice because there are some great new songs by people with some real soulful voices. It’s going to be a nice mix.”
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Guest vocalist Tamika Lawrence joins the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra for Queens of Soul, a Rockin’ Orchestra Series concert at the Schuster Center in Dayton on Saturday, Jan. 4. CONTRIBUTED
Photo: Contributing Writer
The setlist includes symphonic arrangements of “Respect,” “Proud Mary,” “Girl on Fire,” “New Attitude” and other well-known songs.
“It’s everything from the ’60s to just recently,” Gittleman said. “It shows the music and the sound of the music is not just in the past. It’s something that continually inspires people, generation after generation, when they discover the power and the beauty of the music. Then it has a new and different spin that still pays homage to the classic sound but takes it in a more contemporary direction.”
It’s not a giant sonic leap to have full orchestral-backing on these songs even though the musicians might be extrapolating on parts originally played by a single saxophone or small string section.
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Guest vocalist Brie Cassil joins the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra for Queens of Soul, a Rockin’ Orchestra Series concert at the Schuster Center in Dayton on Saturday, Jan. 4. CONTRIBUTED
Photo: Contributing Writer
“On some of the Rockin’ Orchestra shows we lay out for a few tunes but this is one where we’re on everything, so that’s nice,” Gittleman said.” Of course, this is music where a lot of the original tracks were conceived with some sort of orchestral instrument sound as part of the overall texture.”
“A lot of the stuff of the Motown and Stax era often had really good string parts written on a lot of the songs,” he added. “It’s a natural part of the sound from the very beginning of it. It’s not like we’re creating things we never heard before on the records.”
Dayton Philharmonic will once again stretch the musical boundaries of the Rockin’ Orchestra Series with the next concert featuring hip-hop icon Wyclef Jean on Feb. 8.
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