Sting Symphonicities At Carnegie Hall
Longtime New York resident Sting is no stranger to the “hallowed sacred venue” (his words) that is Carnegie Hall. However the former Police frontman‘s performance last week marked a first in that it was the first time he had headlined there by himself as opposed to leading star-studded line-ups in fund-raisers for his rainforest fund. This show was a benefit as well with the recipient being Carnegie Hall’s own music education programs that offer resources to players running the gamut from beginners to advanced.
Five years ago, Sting recorded Symphonicities with the Royal Philharmonic at Abbey Road Studios. He revived the concept for this show along with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s. The local ensemble, which plays regularly at Carnegie Hall as well as The Morgan and The Brooklyn Museum, was led by conductor Rob Mathes who did an outstanding job arranging the material.
Sting featured a crowd-pleasing setlist that included 4 Police songs: Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic, King Of Pain, Roxanne, & Message In A Bottle – the last of which he played solo on acoustic to close the show. He also included the Frank Sinatra song In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning with Chris Botti accompanying on trumpet. The two friends, who toured together for two years supporting Brand New Day, also performed that tune in a celebration of Frank Sinatra earlier this month. You can see a bit of their duet together among other highlights as I was fortunate enough to be at that event as well. The tuneful trumpeter Chris Botti by the way is at The Blue Note through January 10th 2016.
The event raised over 2 million dollars!
