Having gained headlines and new fans with its pop and rock collaborations — think The Flaming Lips, Gregory Alan Isakov and Tenacious D — the Colorado Symphony plans to tackle the music of British rock-royalty Queen next year.
“The Music of Queen,” March 14 at Boettcher Concert Hall, will feature hits from albums such as “A Night at the Opera,” “Sheer Heart Attack,” “A Kind of Magic” and more, the symphony announced this week.
That’s good news for fans of the band, which has surged in pop-culture lately thanks to the Oscar-winning 2018 film “Bohemian Rhapsody,” world tours of the reconstituted band, the touring musical “We Will Rock You” (which is expected to announce its Denver dates soon) and more.
There’s even a local connection: Queen performed its first-ever U.S. concert in Denver, on April 16, 1974, at Regis University.
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“When I sat down to begin scoring the show, it was amazing how comfortably the orchestra fit within the structure of the music,” conductor and arranger Brent Havens said in a press statement. “Innovative chord progressions, wonderful melodies and the astounding vocals of Freddie Mercury make the music a perfect choice to orchestrate.”
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Mercury, who died in 1991, was renowned for his clarion, four-octave vocal range as much as Queen guitarist Brian May was for his precise shredding. That perfectly positions the band’s music for “bridging the gulf between rock n’ roll and classical music,” the symphony said.
Las Vegas singer Brody Dolyniuk and his rock band will provide the vocals, drums, bass and guitar, while the Colorado Symphony will play the rest.
“When he came out to audition for the show we knew immediately that he had something special,” Havens said of Dolyniuk, a self-taught musician who began his career in piano bars. “He not only knew the music but he also had clearly listened to every aspect of Freddie’s performances. His inflections were spot-on and even the wailing rock sound had that Freddie resonance.”
While the symphony has only announced a single performance for “The Music of Queen” — 7:30 p.m. on March 14 — its press release hints at more to come, using the plural “performances” when revealing on-sale details.
Single tickets for the March 14 concert are on sale at 8 a.m., Friday, Dec. 6, via coloradosymphony.org, and at 10 a.m. at the Colorado Symphony box office at the Denver Performing Arts Complex. For more information, call 303-623-7876 or visit coloradosymphony.org/tickets.
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