Westlake Students To Put On David Bowie Concert With Orchestra Group

WESTLAKE, OH - Are you a fan of the late David Bowie? If you are, you're in for a treat. The Westlake High School Orchestra will be performing Bowie XL with City Music Cleveland on March 16 at 7:30 p.m. in the Westlake Schools Performing Arts Center. The concert is free and open to the public.

The concert is called "What is on David Bowie's Playlist?" The musicians of City Music Cleveland will work with groups of Westlake High School students in Orchestra classes. Specifically, the organization will send instructors skilled in woodwind, brass, violin, cello, and bass instruments. In addition to the instructors, the City Music Cleveland Conductor Avner Dorman will also work with students prior to the March 16 performance.

The Bowie XL concert will feature six David Bowie songs designed for the orchestra by Anthony Fiumara. Those songs include Space Oddity, Heroes, Life on Mars, Sound and Vision, Heathen, and Let's Dance.

• John Adams’ “Short Ride in a Fast Machine”
• Philip Glass’ “Heroes Symphony: Movements I & IV” (based on the recordings of David Bowie and Brian Eno in the late 1970s)
• Davie Bowie’s “Sunday” (from the album Heathen)
• Richard Strauss’ “Im Abendrot” (At Sunset)from The Four Last Songs
• Four David Bowie Songs with singer Richard Kline

Additional “What is on David Bowie’s Playlist?” concerts will be held on March 15 at St. Jerome Church, Mary 17 at Lakewood Congregational Church, March 18 at Shrine Church of St. Stanislaus, and March 19 at Anshe Chesed Fairmount Temple.

The City Music Cleveland program was started in 2004 and was originally designed to bring classical music to areas that may not have access to such concerts. As part of their program, the organization also goes into local communities and works with young musicians, like those at Westlake High School.

Photo from Adam Bielawski Photographer, Wikimedia Commons