Kevin Leahy, Atlanta Pops Orchestra’s executive director, said musicians from his ensemble are used to playing technically challenging compositions, sometimes 40 minutes or longer, or established works from an opera or ballet.
Lately, however, they’ve been incorporating much more hip-hop into their performance season. Over the past few years, Atlanta-based symphony orchestras have been interpreting music by rap artists with classical arrangements, allowing musicians to improvise and bring fresh interpretations to the musical genre, expanding their audiences and creating sounds that mirror contemporary popular music.
“This is uncharted territory that gives us a moment to take that ability, weave a new texture into songs that our musicians listened to growing up, in college and share that joy,” Leahy told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The Atlanta Pops Orchestra is performing with East Coast rapper Jason “Jadakiss” Phillips for “Timbs to Tuxedos” on Dec. 1 at Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre. The music ensemble is following that show with a holiday performance headlined by rapper Rick Ross on Dec. 29 at Atlanta Symphony Hall.
APO, which regularly plays music by popular artists from Georgia, performed two shows with T.I. in Dec. 2023. Gucci Mane shared a stage with the classical musicians in October. Audience members were required at both shows to wear formal attire.
Credit: Kim Evans Photography
Credit: Kim Evans Photography
Ross first performed classical versions of his music with Orchestra Noir, an all-Black group of classical musicians, at Atlanta Symphony Hall in November 2023. Michael Giel, APO’s associate conductor, said new songs are being added to Ross’s upcoming show with the orchestra. He plans to also reuse some of the arrangements from the Orchestra Noir performance but with enhanced instrumentation.
“Orchestras can be current, alive and relevant. It allows us to find new ways to look at the music with new eyes and figure out where they fit altogether,” Giel said. “We’re blending two families. We’re so used to staying in our own lane, but we’re doing something that’s reaching the people that value it.”
The shows attracted younger Black audience members who, in many cases, have never seen classical musicians perform or knew they played popular songs. Leahy said including hip-hop as part of its programming can bring more diversity and inclusion to the classical music world.
“We’re constantly evolving, so it’s not like we’re playing 300-year-old music all of the time,” Leahy said. “We’re not a rigid institution. We have the palette to do lush, beautiful symphonic sounds, or we can get down with heavy beats or lean into brass.”
The orchestras normally use composers and arrangers familiar with the recordings. The conductors work with artists to decide which songs to perform based on what sounds good with strings, brass and woodwinds.
Giel, a violinist, electric bass player and Atlanta native, listens to audio tracks numerous times before he conducts, to determine where to make adjustments. During rehearsals he has the orchestra perform with the rapper’s deejay, drummers and percussionists in the orchestra to determine if there’s musical chemistry.
“It’s our opportunity to press play and see if both worlds can collide together and work,” Giel said.
Leahy, who joined APO as a drummer in 2004, says each show is a collaborative effort.
“It’s not just an orchestra backing or playing the music of an artist. We want the artists to really feel comfortable,” he said. “These artists have long, storied careers in addition to great songs. We make sure we know what the artist’s vision is, if they’re celebrating something, want music more symphonic or like being at the club.”
In 2015, for APO’s 70th anniversary, the musicians performed two songs with hip-hop group Arrested Development for its 70th anniversary concert. Leahy called the performance a proof of concept.
Then, local orchestras started to perform with hip-hop artists for national audiences. In August 2018, the Atlanta Music Project, a classical music and choral program for underserved youth in Southwest Atlanta, performed with T.I. on NPR Tiny Desk. Christian hip-hop artist Lecrae performed with the young musicians at the opening of the nonprofit organization’s new performance facility the following year.
Credit: Atlanta Music Project
Credit: Atlanta Music Project
In June 2019, Chicago rapper Common joined the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra at Cadence Bank Amphitheatre. Conducted by actor Damon Gupton, the outdoor concert was ASO’s first-ever performance with a hip-hop artist.
Four years later, Jeezy teamed with ASO at Atlanta Symphony Hall to debut Classically Ours, a concert series that reimagines popular albums by Black recording artists with orchestral arrangements. The show celebrated the release of his 2005 major label debut, “Let’s Get It: Thug Motivation 101.”
Credit: Robb Cohen for the Atlanta Journ
Credit: Robb Cohen for the Atlanta Journ
Atlanta artists have also collaborated with orchestras outside of their hometown. In May, Killer Mike headlined at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. with the National Symphony Orchestra to perform selections from his Grammy-winning album “Michael.”
Leahy said he was excited to work with T.I. because he was seeking ways to attract audiences and keep musicians encouraged, particularly after the coronavirus pandemic closed performance venues.
“We hadn’t done anything at that scale before, but it became my mission not just to do it but to over-exceed with it,” Leahy said. “It was a genuine appreciation for his music and what he’s done to bring attention to the Atlanta music scene. It established the model we use to do the shows.”
Leahy said each performance requires time and preparation, and they don’t accept every request to perform with hip-hop artists, mostly due to time and bandwidth restrictions. Still, he wants to keep building on the success of these shows in Atlanta.
“Hopefully it inspires the next generation of musicians, other orchestras and individual artists to collaborate with other musicians outside of the norm,” Leahy said. “That’s where music grows.”
Dantes Rameau, AMP’s cofounder and executive director, said the organization’s young instrumentalists are passionate about performing the classical arrangements because of their connections to the music. “They loosened up. Performing hip-hop allowed the musicians to bring their full selves to the stage, which produces a unique and special moment for the audience,” he said.
“We think of hip-hop and classical music as two distinct parts of our musical being, but it’s all music and who we are. Black music is beloved all over the world, so these collaborations should happen more regularly.”
Jadakiss: Timbs to Tuxedos:
8 p.m. Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre. 2800 Cobb Galleria Parkway, Atlanta. 770-916-2852. cobbenergycentre.com
Rick Ross: A Holiday Affair:
8 p.m. Atlanta Symphony Hall. 1280 Peachtree Street NE, Atlanta. 404-733-4800. www.aso.org
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