• facebook
  • twitter
  • rss

DREAM THEATER Keyboardist Rehearsing With 'Chacao Youth Symphony Orchestra' (Video)

November 15, 2010

Video footage of DREAM THEATER keyboardist Jordan Rudess rehearsing with the Chacao Youth Symphony Orchestra (conducted by a phenomenal young talent from Turkey named Eren Basbug) earlier today (Monday, November 15) in Venezuela can be viewed below. The video is a glimpse of two minutes of the songs "War Inside my Head" and "The Test That Stumped Them All" that will be perfomed on Friday, November 19 at Centro Cultural Corp Banca in Caracas, Venezuela, along with the "Explorations for Keyboard and Orchestra" material.

"Explorations For Keyboard And Orchestra" is a new composition by Rudess. It is Rudess' first composition for orchestra and fulfills a dream that began as a prodigy at the renowned Juilliard School of Music.

"I once had the opportunity at Juilliard to watch Pierre Boulez conduct Stravinsky's 'Rite of Spring'," Jordan says. "The passion in the composition combined with the power of the full orchestral sound made a huge impact on me. I've sat in front of my synthesizers for years, twisting the knobs, trying to recreate that power. With 'Explorations', I will finally be able to hear one of my own compositions brought to life by that unmistakable sound of a live acoustic orchestra".

He adds, "'Explorations' is a total "progressive" music experience. 'Progressive' in that it is a forward thinking composition fusing my classical and progressive/metal sensibilities, but also progressive in that I will be playing a keyboard connected to an Apple Macbook Pro running Mainstage software . In writing this composition, I was able to bring together the elements of the most influential classical music I've experienced, along with the rock power and intensity that I am known for in my work with DREAM THEATER."

In addition to "Explorations", Rudess and the orchestra will also perform music from DREAM THEATER's repertoire, including "Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence". Rudess says, "I personally invite all of my fans in Venezuela to come to this concert and experience DREAM THEATER's music in a symphonic setting. Imagine the power of DREAM THEATER's music realized by full string, wind, brass and percussion sections! DREAM THEATER's fans in Venezuela are some of the most passionate fans we have and their classical orchestras are renown throughout the world. That's why I've chosen Venezuela to premiere my first symphonic work."

One of the amazing things about the concerts in Venezuela will be the introduction of a phenomenal young talent from Turkey named Eren Basbug.

Jordan says: "Eren was introduced to me through the magic of YouTube. Someone forwarded me a video of Eren performing orchestrations of numerous DREAM THEATER pieces beautifully. "He created the orchestrations, assembled a full orchestra and conducted them in concert. I was so impressed by his talent and energy that I got in touch with him and told him about my idea to write a piece for keyboard and orchestra. Needless to say, he wanted to be involved and helped me make that happen.

"At the world premiere of 'Explorations for Keyboard and Orchestra', I will be playing all of the keyboard/synthesizer parts. With Eren flying in from Turkey to conduct the enthusiastic Chacao Youth Symphony Orchestra and myself coming from New York City, it looks like we are set for a 'night to remember.'"

Find more on
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • reddit
  • email

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).