Last year composer Lee Johnson released the premiere recording of his acclaimed “Dead Symphony,” an orchestral tribute to the music of the Grateful Dead performed by the Russian National Orchestra and conducted by the composer. dead.net’s Blair Jackson described the Symphony as “a work of great passion, depth, subtlety and imagination” (for Blair’s full aricle on the Dead Symphony and its composer, go here).Now, more than a year after its recorded debut, Lee Johnson’s bold transfiguration of some of the best known and loved Grateful Dead melodies in an orchestral setting is about to receive its world premiere in concert (and we all know that the Dead’s music is best heard live), when it is performed by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra on August 1st (Jerry Garcia’s 66th birthday). For this one-night-only event, the lobby of Baltimore’s Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall will be transformed into a gallery of Grateful Dead and other countercultural art and artifacts, including rare images by Fillmore East photographer (and Baltimore native) Amalie R. Rothschild, which will be auctioned at the performance and online to benefit the Baltimore Symphony.
For tickets and detailed information, visit the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra website.