R.E.M.’s Mike Mills Preps Debut Classical Piece, Tour
R.E.M.‘s Mike Mills will release his first classical composition, Concerto for Violin, Rock Band and String Orchestra, October 14th via Orange Mountain Music.
Mills composed and performed the piece with acclaimed violinist, and childhood friend, Robert McDuffie. The recording also boasts students from Mercer University’s McDuffie Center for Strings Ensemble conducted by Ward Stare.
“It is a pleasure and an honor to have composed and to perform this amazing project alongside my old friend Bobby, whose imagination and encouragement got the whole thing off the ground in the first place,” Mills said in a statement. McDuffie added, “It’s a work that goes straight to your heart, and by the end you’ll want to dance and move to the South.”
Mills and McDuffie premiered Concerto in June with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and later performed the piece in Rome. Today, August 11th, they’ll perform at the Aspen Music Festival, and this fall they’ll embark on a U.S. tour with the Chicago Chamber Orchestra. The trek begins October 20th in Miami, with a complete list of dates below.
The live performance features Mills on bass and keyboard leading a four-piece rock band that also includes two electric guitars and a drummer. McDuffie will play violin alongside the 15-string orchestra.
Mike Mills and Robert McDuffie Tour Dates
October 20 — Miami, FL @ Knight Concert Hall
October 21 — St. Petersburg, FL @ Mahaffey Theater
October 24 — Athens, GA @ Hodgson Hall
October 25 — Newberry, SC @ Newberry Opera House
October 27 — Macon, GA @ Macon City Auditorium
October 28 — Atlanta, GA @ Emerson Concert Hall at Emory Univ.
October 29 — Charleston, SC @ Charleston Music Hall
October 30 — Chapel Hill, NC @ Memorial Auditorium
November 1 — Newport News, VA @ Ferguson Center for the Arts
November 3 — North Bethesda, MD @ Music Center at Strathmore
November 4 — Pittsburgh, PA @ Byham Theater
November 5 — Carmel, IN @ Palladium Center for the Arts
November 6 — Detroit, MI @ Music Hall
November 7 — Chicago, IL @ Harris Theatre