Posted March 26, 2021
DAYTON, OH (March 23, 2021) – On Saturday, April 17, 2021 at 6:00 pm and 8:30 pm in the Mead Theatre of the Schuster Center, Artistic Director and Conductor Neal Gittleman and the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra (DPO) will present the next concert of the Dayton Performing Arts Alliance (DPAA) 2020–2021 Reimagined Season entitled A Night of Symphonic Rock.
A Night of Symphonic Rock presents classic rock favorites as never before heard! The musicians of the DPO are thrilled to perform their first Rockin’ Orchestra concert of the year and, in fact, the first Rockin’ Orchestra concert since January 2020. The Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra will be joined by musicians from the era of stadium sell-outs as symphony meets rock in one giant hit-packed show, featuring chart busters from bands like Journey, KISS, Starship, Pat Benatar and the great Led Zeppelin.
This Rockin’ Orchestra concert marks a change in line-up from the concert originally planned for April 17, 2021, that was announced at the launch of the 2020–2021 Reimagined Season this past December. In partnership with The Funk Music Hall of Fame & Exhibition, also known as TheFunkCenter, and the University of Dayton, the Dayton Philharmonic planned to present a concert entitled Dayton Funk: A Tribute to Dayton’s Funk Legacy with Dayton Funk All-Stars and Guests. This celebration has now been moved to the 2021–2022 DPAA season, and will include, as originally intended, three major components:
- The University of Dayton and Dr. Sharon Davis Gratto, Graul Chair in the Arts and Languages, will be hosting a major international symposium on Dayton Funk Music, involving “funk-ologists” from near and far
- TheFunkCenter will induct the inaugural class of Funk Music Hall of Fame honorees
- The Dayton Philharmonic will perform a concert on the Rockin’ Orchestra Series, backing up the Dayton Funk All-Stars and the Sound of Touch vocal quartet in an evening of great Dayton Funk songs by the Ohio Players, Lakeside, Zapp, Faze-O, Platypus, and many more, with some planned guest appearance by Funk luminaries
“This planned musical celebration of the Dayton Funk Scene is more than just a Rockin’ Orchestra Series concert,” said Dayton Philharmonic Artistic Director and Conductor Neal Gittleman. “It’s actually a really big deal, and we are looking forward to working with the University of Dayton and TheFunkCenter to really celebrate the origins and history of Funk Music in the Dayton region. We want to do it up right, so moving it to next season gives us the best chance to do just that. We’ve decided to delay this project to the 2021–2022 season, when we hope that eased health restrictions will allow it to be the big deal that we all want it to be.”
While the DPAA, TheFunkCenter, and University of Dayton adjust their schedules to prepare a full and proper celebration of the Dayton Funk Scene in the 2021–2022 Season, the show, as they say, must go on in the Rockin’ Orchestra world. On April 17, 2021, the Dayton Philharmonic will present a long-awaited sensational celebration of symphonic rock, the first Rockin’ Orchestra concert of 2021 AND the first Rockin’ Orchestra concert since the pandemic hit last March. The DPO musicians are ready to rock and cannot wait to do so in the company of a live audience with A Night of Symphonic Rock this April. Come ‘Rock and Roll All Night’ with the DPO, live from the Schuster Center!
To accommodate a variety of viewing needs of its patrons, the DPAA offers three options to enjoy A Night of Symphonic Rock:
- In-Theater Performances: The DPO will offer two live in-theatre performances of this concert, with no intermission, for those who cannot wait to be back in the Schuster Center to see and hear the DPO in person. These performances will be held at 6:00pm and 8:30pm on Saturday, April 17, 2021, at the Benjamin and Marian Schuster Performing Arts Center in downtown Dayton. The performance will be 50 minutes in length with no intermission. In compliance with Public Health–Dayton and Montgomery County, limited seating will be available in the Schuster Center, patrons will be seated in a socially-distance configuration, and strict safety guidelines will be followed in order to ensure the safety of all patrons in attendance. In-theater tickets are $50 per performance.
- Live Stream Performance – For those patrons who are not yet ready to attend an in-theater performance, this concert can be viewed in a live-stream format from the comfort of home in real time as the DPO performs the concert from the stage. The Live Stream Performance will be streamed at 8:30pm on Saturday, April 17, 2021, and the live stream ticket also provides access to on-demand viewing of the performance until June 30, 2021. Live stream access is $25.
- Virtual Stream Membership – Patrons can become a DPAA Virtual Streams member which, depending on the membership level, provides access to all DPAA Reimagined Season live and recorded performances, as well as past 2020 Autumn and Holiday Streams, Artist Q&As, Behind-The-Scenes Videos and Bonus Performances. The Premium membership level ($500) provides access to all DPAA Live Streams. The Basic ($100) and Plus ($250) membership levels provide access to all performances five days after the Live Stream premieres. All performances are available for on-demand viewing until June 30, 2021.
Tickets for In-Theater and Live Stream performances of A Night of Symphonic Rock are available at Ticket Center Stage (937) 228-3630 or online at www.daytonperformingarts.org. DPAA Virtual Streams Memberships can be obtained by visiting https://daytonperformingarts.org/streams/. Information and ticketing for this program, or any of the DPAA 2020–2021 Reimagined Season programs, can be found by visiting www.daytonperformingarts.org.
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About the Dayton Performing Arts Alliance
The Dayton Performing Arts Alliance (DPAA) was formed in July 2012 as the result of a groundbreaking and innovative merger between the Dayton Ballet, the Dayton Opera, and the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra. Together, they are the largest performing arts organization in the greater Dayton community, with a mission to be the community’s indispensable source for traditional, diverse and innovative experiences in ballet, opera, and orchestral music. The vision of the DPAA is to transform lives through the power of music and dance. The DPAA offers a wide variety of performance and education programs, setting a new standard for artistic excellence. DPAA performances reach an audience of more than 90,000 people annually, and their rich arts education programming serves over 60,000 schoolchildren in 150 schools in the Miami Valley. These performances and education initiatives are made possible in part through major support provided by the Ohio Arts Council, Culture Works, the City of Dayton, Montgomery County and the National Endowment for the Arts.