On January 10, 2016, the music world lost one of its most legendary creators — David Bowie — only two days after his 69th birthday and the release of his final album, Blackstar.
The storied rock ‘n’ roll icon has since been immortalized by an endless current of tribute performances, Ziggy-themed dance parties, and the natural spike of iTunes downloads that follows any infamous musician’s death. However, Detroit-area Bowie fans will have the chance to attend a one-time-only celebration of the Thin White Duke’s catalog, thanks to the “most accessible orchestra on the planet” — the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.
Brent Havens, a Berklee-trained conductor and arranger of feature film, TV, and more, will guest conduct the DSO on Sunday, July 10 at Meadow Brook Amphitheatre through The Music of David Bowie, a two-hour exploration of David Bowie’s genius. The approximately 18-song concert will be a “symphonic rock hybrid” and will feature Bowie favorites such as “Space Oddity,” “Changes,” “Under Pressure,” “Heroes,” “Rebel Rebel,” “Fame,” “China Girl,” and more.
“My concept for The Music of David Bowie was to take the music as close to the originals as we could and then add some colors to enhance what Bowie had done,” said Havens. “The wonderful thing with an orchestra is that you have an entire palette to call upon. The band is reproducing what Bowie did on the albums, verbatim, and then having an orchestra behind the band gives the music a richness, a whole different feel, a whole different sense of power.”
David Bowie released more than 25 studio albums in his lifetime, including iconic titles such as The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, Aladdin Sane (which includes the track “Panic in Detroit”), and Young Americans. His 2016 release Blackstar was his only album to reach number one on the US Billboard 200 chart, though he is believed to have sold approximately 140 million albums in his lifetime. Bowie was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996.
Tickets for this summer’s one-time-only symphonic event will be available on Saturday, March 26 at 10 a.m. via dso.org, Livenation.com, and Palacenet.com. Tickets range from $20–$75.
Listen to the London Symphony Orchestra perform David Bowie’s “Life on Mars” Below:
(From The London Symphony Orchestra Plays Classic Rock, 1977.)