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Photo courtesy of St. Louis Symphony/Jay Fram
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Photo courtesy of Joshua Sobel
Powell Hall, it’s about to get hot in herre. St. Louis rapper and country grammarian Nelly is joining the St. Louis Symphony for a one-time-only concert on February 3. The collaboration follows a string of symphony tribute shows honoring such pop icons as Prince, David Bowie, and Michael Jackson. We spoke with music director David Robertson about the collaboration and the symphony’s recent forays into pop.
What do you find most exciting about pop performances? These concerts allow our musicians to explore the unique talents of some of the best artists in the world. No matter the genre, it is an experience that I find fascinating. Our collaboration with Nelly is particularly meaningful, pairing a Grammy-winning artist and native of St. Louis with the city’s Grammy-winning orchestra. Nelly’s musical journey began in St. Louis, so this will be a special homecoming.
How might an audience member better appreciate a piece of pop music after hearing it performed by the symphony? These concerts allow audiences to appreciate the role orchestral music has played throughout popular music history. Many of the sounds that we hear in pop music incorporated orchestral sounds. These would have been recorded with an orchestra in a studio, and likely never in concert, so it is thrilling for St. Louis audiences to experience them in a live setting.
Who are some other pop artists whose music you’d like to play? Björk and Radiohead are both artists I have always admired. I would be honored to collaborate with such great musical minds.
Is there a disconnect between the classical and pop music scenes here in St. Louis? I actually think there is a lot of blurring of lines. In fact, there are two groups, The 442s and Cortango, that were actually started by St. Louis Symphony musicians, working with other local musicians whose roots are in other types of music.
How have classically trained symphony musicians reacted to performing the pop material? Most classical musicians grew up listening to many types of music and still do today. I think musicians believe there are two types of music—good and bad—and good music crosses all genres. For some concerts, some musicians may not actually prefer that particular artist, and for others, they want to jump out of their chairs and start dancing with the audience.
