Wanted: Rock Star Seeks New Gig with Orchestra!

Rick Bird, hard-working rock/pop/jazz critic for the Cincinnati Post, had a nice, long article in the Friday paper about rock guitar icon and Northern Kentucky native Adrian Belew: Adrian Belew: Rock's renaissance man.

It seems that Adrian, a longtime fan of the Cincinnati Symphony, dating back to his school days here, is just itching for the chance to make his classical music debut. As Bird writes:

"Northern Kentucky native Adrian Belew has seemingly done it all in the world of rock guitar.

"He's played with Frank Zappa's acid rock big band, toured with glam rocker David Bowie, worked on the New Wave of Talking Heads, played in the power pop quartet the Bears and the art rock of King Crimson. He's released more than a dozen solo albums in his 30-year career.

"Belew has a few other unexplored areas he's working on. He recently took up painting. And he has a dream of some day playing with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra."...

I think those words must be music to the ears of one Erkki-Sven Tuur, himself formerly a highly esteemed rock star in Estonia as the leader of the progressive rock band, In Spe. When Erkki-Sven visited Cincinnati in 2001during Paavo's first season, he was excited to learn that Adrian Belew grew up so close to Cincinnati and had hopes of finally meeting his longtime idol face to face. While that dream went unfulfilled on that particular visit, he did make the acquaintance of Rob Fetters, one of Adrian's bandmates in The Bears.

As Bird continues in his article:

"What's next? A new Bears album is 95 percent done and will likely be out late this year. Belew continues to write material and record with King Crimson. And there is that little dream about a symphony appearance.

"Belew has befriended Estonian composer Erkki-Sven Tuur, who is writing a new symphony that includes a guitarist, set to debut this fall in Austria. Belew is hopeful he will be that guest guitarist. The CSO has already debuted a Tuur symphony and Belew hopes Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra Music Director Paavo Jarvi might be interested in this one.

" 'Playing with a symphony is different. I would really love to do that debut in Cincinnati -- in my hometown. That would be fabulous.' "
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UPDATE

Alan Teder, proprietor of erkki sven tuur.com reports that Erkki-Sven's Symphony No. 5 for electric guitar, big band and symphony orchestra premiered on February 1, 2005, in Stuttgart, Germany with Martin Scales (guitar); SWR Big Band; SWR Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra; and Olari Elts conducting. (This programme will likely be broadcast live or recorded for future broadcast on SWR South West Radio, Stuttgart, Germany) Südwestrundfunk . Alan says that Erkki-Sven was recently in Latvia for the second performance of this new work.