This preview has been provided by the North Carolina Symphony.
The Classical Mystery Tour band, including cast members from the Broadway smash Beatlemania, will play two concerts with the North Carolina Symphony and guest conductor Martin Herman in Raleigh’s Meymandi Concert Hall, at 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, April 22 and 23. The concert follows the career of the most successful band in history from obscurity to international superstardom, with a variety of classics from the Fab Four arranged for rock instruments and a full orchestra.
Commenting on the recent passing of Sir George Martin, who was often called the “fifth Beatle,” Sir Paul McCartney recognized how revolutionary it was to include classical instruments on the hit single “Yesterday.” McCartney recalled resisting at first, but said “When we recorded the string quartet at Abbey Road, it was so thrilling to know his idea was so correct that I went round telling people about it for weeks.” The Symphony is proud to pay tribute to the passion and invention of the Fab Four, fifty years after the film The Beatles at Shea Stadium documented the band’s last live performance in America.
Guest artists include Jim Owen (John Lennon), on rhythm guitar, piano and vocals; Tony Kishman (Paul McCartney), on bass guitar, piano and vocals; David John (George Harrison), on lead guitar and vocals; and Chris Camilleri (Ringo Starr), on drums and vocals. Guest conductor Martin Herman serves as Music Director and arranger for Classical Mystery Tour, as well as composing for and conducting orchestras on three continents; his musical education included studying conducting and composition at Duke University.
Tickets to performances of the Classical Mystery Tour with the North Carolina Symphony range from $30 to $66. Student tickets are $15. For more information, visit the North Carolina Symphony’s website at www.ncsymphony.org, or call 919.733.2750 or toll free 877.627.6724.
The April 22 Concert Sponsor is Synergy Spa, Aesthetics & Wellness / Collins Plastic Surgery.
Meymandi Concert Hall is located in the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts, 2 E. South St., in Raleigh.
About the North Carolina Symphony
Founded in 1932, the North Carolina Symphony gives more than 175 performances annually to adults and school children in more than 50 North Carolina counties. An entity of the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources, the orchestra employs 66 professional musicians, under the artistic leadership of Music Director and Conductor Grant Llewellyn, Resident Conductor William Henry Curry, and Associate Conductor David Glover.
Based in downtown Raleigh’s spectacular Meymandi Concert Hall at the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts and an outdoor summer venue at Booth Amphitheatre in Cary, N.C., the Symphony performs about 60 concerts annually in the Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and Cary metropolitan area. It holds regular concert series in Fayetteville, New Bern, Southern Pines and Wilmington — as well as individual concerts in many other North Carolina communities throughout the year — and conducts one of the most extensive education programs of any U.S. orchestra.
