SYMPHONYFUSE:
Beethoven X Coldplay

Conducted by Steve Hackman

Steve Hackman, conductor and creator
San Diego Symphony Orchestra

Steve Hackman returns to the Jacobs Music Center with a new orchestral fusion: SYMPHONYFUSE: Beethoven X Coldplay. The work merges two musical giants who explore universal and humanist themes, asking the question: Would Beethoven have found meaning in the music of Coldplay? That notion, perhaps odd-sounding at first, becomes much more compelling when considering the state of the 33-year-old Beethoven as he composed the Eroica: desperate to prove himself as Europe's preeminent composer, loving but not being loved in return, and despairing as he realized his hearing would someday leave him completely. The program tells this story by transforming the Eroica into a song cycle/oratorio, weaving Coldplay's melodies and lyrics into Beethoven's original score and pairing them based on context and meaning.

Three world-class vocalists join the full orchestra, while composer-conductor Steve Hackman alternates between conducting and playing piano. Many of Coldplay's best-known songs are interpolated, including "Yellow," "Viva la Vida," "Clocks" and "The Scientist."