Dallas Symphony Orchestra To Give World Premiere Of 'Gamelan D'Drum' By Stewart Copeland Of The Police

Dallas, TX (Top40 Charts/ Dallas Symphony Orchestra) The Dallas Symphony Orchestra (DSO) will perform the world premiere of "Gamelan D'Drum" by Stewart Copeland, on Feb. 3-5, 2011 (Super Bowl weekend), at 8 p.m. at the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas. The DSO's acclaimed Music Director Jaap van Zweden will conduct the performances, with Copeland himself in attendance.

The Dallas Symphony commissioned Copeland, drummer/founder of The Police and now prolific opera, ballet, chamber music and film composer, to write the world percussion concerto for the DSO. Copeland collaborated closely with D'Drum, a five-member percussion ensemble from Dallas made up of Douglas Howard, the DSO's principal percussionist; Ronald Snider, DSO percussionist; and percussionists John Bryant, Ed Smith and Jamal Mohamed.

This 35-minute, 3-movement concerto will feature percussion instruments and musical influences from all over the world, including Bali, Africa, the Middle East, Java, and the Americas, in addition to newly developed sounds in the contemporary percussion world.

As some of the world instruments in "Gamelan D'Drum" are not traditionally tuned to a western orchestra, several instruments were created specifically for this piece. These instruments include two full sets of Javanese and Balinese gongs, a xylophone from Uganda, a set of African ewe drums from Ghana, and several Arabic instruments.

"This won't be like anything anyone has heard before," says the DSO's Snider. "Stewart's piece will appeal to listeners with a wide variety of musical persuasions."

Also on the program will be Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 3, Scottish, and Van Otterloo's "Intrada" for Brass and Percussion.

Tickets are $17-$113 and can be purchased on-line at https://www.dallassymphony.com, or by phone at 214-692-0203.