On October 22 former Grateful Dead and current Furthur vocalist/rhythm guitarist Bob Weir will team up with members of the 41-piece Marin Symphony and Quartet San Francisco to perform “as-yet-undetermined” Grateful Dead songs at Marin Center’s Veterans Memorial Auditorium in San Rafael, CA. The concert, billed as First Fusion, marks the first time the Marin Symphony has worked with a rock star.
For the first part of the two-part event the full symphony will perform select Dead tunes rearranged by Weir and Italian composer-arranger Giancarlo Aquilanti. The second half of the event will feature Weir, select members of the symphony and Quartet San Francisco performing a program that includes improvised music pieces. [via Marin Independent Journal]
This isn’t the first time the music of the Dead has been tackled by an orchestra. Back in 2007 Lee Johnson rearranged the band’s songs as part of his Symphony #6, which was released as the Dead Symphony CD and debuted live in Baltimore, MD on August 1, 2008. Tickets for First Fusion go on sale to the general public on September 1. Advance ticket sales will be available to Marin Symphony subscribers only starting August 25.
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FYI the Dead also played with the San Francisco Symphony in 1996.