On Friday, March 17, 2023, Eastman School of Music and the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra jointly present Police Deranged for Orchestra, featuring Grammy award-winning artist Stewart Copeland on the drums, at 8:00 PM in Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre. Conducted by Raúl Gómez-Rojas, this high-energy orchestral evening celebrates the work of legendary rock star and composer, Stewart Copeland, whose epic career spans over four decades.
“This concert should be an extraordinary, not-to-be-missed event,” says RPO President & CEO Curtis L. Long. “It’s also a great example of how collaboration between our two organizations benefits the entire community.”
Stewart Copeland is a unique figure in music: renowned as the founder of The Police, a band that became a defining force in rock music from the ‘80s through today; he is also a seasoned and prolific composer in opera, ballet, and orchestral music. Mike Stefiuk, Director of Concert Operations at Eastman, is a fan – “Like millions of others growing up in the 70s and 80s, I was musically impacted by the globally popular band, The Police, and their drummer, Stewart Copeland – a wizard of the drum set who masterfully provided rock, jazz, reggae, and punk rhythms for the iconic trio. Having Stewart here at Eastman to perform the works of one of my all-time favorite bands will be an absolute thrill. I’m sure others will agree.”
Copeland explains that the “derangement” of The Police’s music “began as the score for a movie I made out of Super8 footage of the band that I had shot during our rise to glory. Film puts capricious demands on music, so I had to carve up the songs to serve the scenes in the movie, and once the scalpel was out, a whole new frenzy of inspiration from Police music began.” He shares that “delving into the multi-tracks of our original recordings and live performances revealed lost guitar solos, bass lines, and vocal improvisations that were just too cool to leave in obscurity… this discovery is what brings us to this performance: Sting’s songs, Andy’s inventions, and my impunity; all on the page for a wild ride with the Eastman School of Music and the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra!”
The program features orchestral arrangements of The Police’s biggest hits, including Roxanne, Don’t Stand So Close to Me, Every Breath You Take and Message in a Bottle. Along with the RPO and Copeland himself, the concert will feature performances by guest vocalists Amy Keys, Ashley Tamar, and Carmel Helene, and bassist Arman Sabel Lecco.
To purchase tickets, ranging in price from $45 to $139, visit EastmanTheatre.org or call the Eastman Box Office at (585) 274-3000.
Media only: Lauren Sageer, Assistant Director of Public Relations and Digital Content,
(585) 451-8492, lsageer@esm.rochester.edu
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About Stewart Copeland:
Stewart Copeland has spent more than three decades at the forefront of contemporary music as a rock star and acclaimed film composer, as well as in the disparate worlds of opera, ballet, and world and chamber music.
Recruiting Sting and Andy Summers in 1977, Copeland is renowned as the founder of The Police, a band that became a defining force in rock music from the ‘80s through to the present day. His career includes the sale of more than 60 million records worldwide, and numerous awards, including five Grammy awards.
Copeland moved beyond the rock arena in the mid-1980s when he returned to his classical roots with creative pursuits in concert and film music. His concert works include BEN-HUR, A Tale of the Christ, which features Copeland as soloist in a live orchestral score for the 1925 silent film; Tyrant’s Crush: Concerto for Trapset and Orchestra commissioned by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Poltroons in Paradise commissioned by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra; and Gamelan D’Drum, commissioned by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra for the world percussion group D’Drum.
In 2017, The Chicago Opera Theatre premiered Copeland’s surreal chamber opera The Invention of Morel, a co-commission with Long Beach Opera based on the novel by Adolfo Bioy Casares. Copeland has also written two operas based on stories by Edgar Allen Poe: The Cask of Amontillado and The Tell-Tale Heart.
Copeland continues to pursue his love for Opera and 2020 saw the premiere of Electric Saint, commissioned by Weimar DNT as well as his Oratorio, Satan’s Fall, based on John Milton’s Paradise Lost, which premiered in Pittsburgh in February 2020 and was performed across the US in 2021, with the UK and many more European performances still to come.
The 2018/19 season saw Stewart Copeland premiere concerts of his project Stewart Copeland Lights Up The Orchestra, a concert showcasing the life of Stewart and his compositions, from The Police to Spyro the Dragon and Tyrant’s Crush with performances taking place across Germany and the UK.
In 2021, Copeland created a new project, Stewart Copeland: The Police Deranged for Orchestra, which focuses on the epic rise of his career. The concert is an evening bursting with The Police’s biggest hits including ‘Roxanne’, ‘Don’t Stand To Close To Me’ and ‘Message in a Bottle’ arranged for full symphony orchestra as well as hand-picked highlights from Copeland’s compositions. The project has toured across Northern America and Europe throughout 2021-2022 with many sold-out concerts and will continue touring in to 2023/24 in a new format.
In 2022, his rock opera The Witches Seed was premiered in Italy at the Tones on the Stones Festival in a stunning Quarry, in collaboration with Creative Partner Chrissie Hynde and with a libretto by regular collaborator Jonathan Moore, many more replicas in progress for 23/24/25.
Recipient of the Hollywood Film Festival’s first Outstanding Music in Film Visionary Award, a Grammy nominee for his 2005 CD Orchestralli, and a 2003 inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Copeland has been responsible for some of the film world’s most innovative and ground breaking scores. His numerous film scores include Oliver Stone’s Wall Street, the seminal score for the Golden Globe-nominated soundtrack for Francis Ford Coppola’s Rumble Fish, the score for Bruno Barreto’s Oscar-nominated Four Days in September and his Emmy nomination for the Showtime pilot and series Dead Like Me. His work in television includes contributions to The Equalizer, Babylon V, and Desperate Housewives and he also scored the blockbuster hit video game ‘Spyro’.
About Raúl Gómez-Rojas:
Member of the 2018 class of the prestigious Bruno Walter National Conductor Preview (League of American Orchestras), Raúl Gómez-Rojas inspires audiences and artists of all ages and backgrounds to use music as a vehicle to connect, pursue excellence, and spread joy. Lauded as a “visionary conductor” (Oregon ArtsWatch), Raúl has built a reputation as an insightful leader that “captivates both performing musicians and audiences alike,” and whose “positive attitude and enthusiasm make him a joy to be with” (C. Mumm, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, NY).
In high demand as a guest conductor, Raúl is equally at home on stage and in the pit, leading professional orchestras in the USA and Latin America, new music ensembles, youth, and community groups, and collaborating with a vast array of guest artists across many genres and disciplines. Recent highlights include performances with the Oregon Symphony, Oregon Ballet Theatre, 45th Parallel Universe, Fear No Music, Third Angle New Music, Tilikum Chamber Orchestra, the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, the Oregon International Ballet Academy, jazz violinist Regina Carter, Steward Copeland, Boyz 2 Men, Lyle Lovett, The Tenors, Kermit Ruffins, Rick Springfield and more.
As Music Director of the Metropolitan Youth Symphony in Portland, Oregon, Raúl leads a team of 12 conductors serving over 500 students in 14 ensembles. He has led the organization to new artistic heights while creating “concert programs that any forward-looking orchestra should envy.” (Willamette Week). Raúl’s skills to “inspire children and young adults to make music to the best of their ability are astonishing” (D. Seldis, The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra). Raúl also currently serves as Music Director of YMA: Young Musicians and Artists and Guest Conductor with Oregon Ballet Theatre.
A native of Costa Rica, Raúl received full scholarships for graduate studies at Louisiana State University in violin/viola (MM) and conducting (DMA) and was a Conducting Fellow in the American Academy of Conducting at the Aspen Music Festival (2011). Beyond the podium, his work extends to frequent engagements as a violinist/violist, clinician, public speaker and, since 2020, as a Contributing Host and Producer for On Deck with Young Musicians on All Classical Portland.
About the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra:
The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) has been committed to enriching and inspiring our community through the art of music since its origins in 1922. The RPO presents approximately 150 concerts and broadcasts a year, serving up to 170,000 people through ticketed events, education and community engagement activities, and concerts in schools and community centers throughout the region. Andreas Delfs was named music director in 2020 following notable RPO music directors Erich Leinsdorf, David Zinman, Mark Elder and Conductor Laureate Christopher Seaman. Principal Pops Conductor Jeff Tyzik, now in his 29th season, has earned a national reputation for excellence in pops programming during his tenure with the RPO. The RPO reaches more than 15,000 youth through its specific education programs.
About Eastman School of Music:
The Eastman School of Music was founded in 1921 by industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman (1854-1932), founder of Eastman Kodak Company. It was the first professional school of the University of Rochester. Mr. Eastman’s dream was that his school would provide a broad education in the liberal arts as well as superb musical training.
More than 900 students are enrolled in the Collegiate Division of the Eastman School of Music—about 500 undergraduates and 400 graduate students. They come from almost every state, and approximately 23 percent are from other countries. They are taught by a faculty comprised of more than 130 highly regarded performers, composers, conductors, scholars, and educators. They are Pulitzer Prize winners, Grammy winners, Emmy winners, Guggenheim fellows, ASCAP Award recipients, published authors, recording artists, and acclaimed musicians who have performed in the world’s greatest concert halls. Each year, Eastman’s students, faculty members, and guest artists present more than 900 concerts to the Rochester community. Additionally, more than 1,700 members of the Rochester community, from young children through senior citizens, are enrolled in the Eastman Community Music School.
About the University of Rochester:
The University of Rochester is one of the nation’s leading private research universities, one of only 62-member institutions in the Association of American Universities. Located in Rochester, N.Y., the University gives undergraduates exceptional opportunities for interdisciplinary study and close collaboration with faculty through its unique cluster-based curriculum. Its College, School of Arts and Sciences, and Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences are complemented by the Eastman School of Music, Simon School of Business, Warner School of Education, Laboratory for Laser Energetics, School of Medicine and Dentistry, School of Nursing, Eastman Institute for Oral Health, and the Memorial Art Gallery.