MIKE TERRANA's 'Sinfonica' Combines Classic Music With Rock Drumming

Drummer Mike Terrana (TARJA TURUNEN, MASTERPLAN, AXEL RUDI PELL, SAVAGE CIRCUS, RAGE, YNGWIE MALMSTEEN) has completed work on his third solo album, "Sinfonica", which contains 11 famous classical orchestral tracks accompanied by his drumming.

Commented Terrana: "The idea for the 'Sinfonica' project originally came into being, because I wanted to make a tribute song for one of my favorite drummers, Cozy Powell [RAINBOW, BLACK SABBATH, YNGWIE MALMSTEEN].

"Cozy was tragically killed in a car accident 10 years ago. I felt this was a great loss to the music and drumming community and I wanted to do something in a musical context to keep his memory alive.

"In 1976, I was fortunate enough to see Cozy Powell play along to an abbreviated version of Tchaikovsky's '1812 Overture' in his drum solo with RAINBOW. It was fascinating to see a rock drummer attempting to play such a monumental piece of classical music.

"During the early part of 2009 I was thinking about how I could pay my respects to Mr. Powell, when I came upon the idea to record a new version of the '1812 Overture'. I started working on the '1812 Overture' track in the summer of 2009 and was very satisfied with the outcome. I enjoyed playing along with the orchestral tracks so much that I decide to seek out another 10 well-known classical pieces. This is a task more easily said then done, because there is a multitude of classical music out there, but not all of it works within the boundaries of the drumming concept. Once I found the correct pieces, I set to work on adapting and composing drum grooves and fills to go along with the music.

"I tried to envision what it would have been like if composers such as Mozart, Tchaikovsky and Rossini would have been able to employ the services of a modern day rock drummer to play on their compositions.

"A little over a year later from the inception of this project, I am proud to announce the completion of 'Sinfonica'. This CD contains 11 classical pieces, a 'Making of Sinfonica' video, and two performance videos.

"'Sinfonica' is a celebration of some of the greatest and most famous classical music ever written and a tribute to the main inspiration for this project, Cozy Powell."

"Sinfonica" track listing:

01. New World Symphony - Antonín Dvorák
02. William Tell Overture - Gioachino Rossini
03. Rondo - J. Mouret
04. Concert For Violin & Oboe - Johann Sebastian Bach
05. Washington Post - John Philip Sousa
06. Barber Of Seville - Gioachino Rossini
07. Pomp & Circumstance - Sir. Edward Elgar
08. Nutcracker Suite - Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
09. Cancan - Jacques Offenbach
10. Eine Kleine Nachtmusik - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
11. 1812 Overture - Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Terrana's version of "Eine kleine Nachtmusik" can be heard in a YouTube clip below. Also available is the "making-of" footage for "Sinfonica".

For more information on "Sinfonica" and to download the album, go to this location.

Mike Terrana is an American drummer, principally in the hard rock genre. His first professional work was in 1984 with the MCA band HANOVER FIST, after which he recorded and toured with various bands, playing various styles of music in Western New York state.

Between 1987 and 1997, he was based in Los Angeles, working with artists like Yngwie Malmsteen, Tony Macalpine, Steve Lukather (TOTO),Jennifer Batten (MICHAEL JACKSON, JEFF BECK),Kuni and BEAU NASTY.

In 1997 Terrana moved to Europe, first in Holland for six months and then Germany. He worked with GAMMA RAY, RAGE, AXEL RUDI PELL, Roland Grapow (ex-HELLOWEEN) and SAVAGE CIRCUS.

Terrana is a recording and touring member of MASTERPLAN; he also tours with Tarja Turunen. He is engaged in projects in the instrumental fusion genre and performs drum clinics around the world for the companies he endorses.