The GoGo Symphony is inviting audience members to be part of its official music video and live recording October 27 in Washington DC.

“The audience members will be key to the success of the video and recording, so we want them to look good and party hard. But come early if you want to be in the video. We start filming at 7 pm,” said GoGo Symphony founder, composer, and conductor Liza Figueroa Kravinsky.

Legendary GoGo band Trouble Funk with special guest Sugar Bear will end the evening as the headliner. Comedian Chris Thomas will be hosting the event as well as performing a stand up comedy act.

The critically acclaimed GoGo Symphony mixes a classical orchestra over Washington DC’s iconic gogo beats, creating symphonies people can dance and party to. It has sold out shows in the past with its rowdy atmosphere.

Renowned classical music critic and expert Greg Sandow has called the Go-Go Symphony “Maverick” in the classical world. He wrote, “What I love is the project itself. And especially the way that it doesn’t simply combine pop and classical music — that’s been done quite a lot — but also brings together pop and classical musicians. And in a long-term collaboration, not just as a one-shot, like Grizzly Bear playing with the Brooklyn Philharmonic, or Elvis Costello creating The Juliet Letters with the Brodsky Quartet…All these things are rare, if not unique. And they give the project a kind of street energy not always found in pop/classical collaborations.”

On the other side, Kato Hammond, author of the top go-go music news website “Take Me Out to the Go-Go,” predicts this project will bring go-go music to a wider audience. He feels this project will be a “big deal” in the go-go world.

The show will launch the GoGo Symphony’s two new singles being released in the fall, coinciding with an October 19 TV appearance on WUSA9’s “Get Up DC” and local radio play.

The video shoots starts at 7 pm, Saturday October 27, 2018 at the Union Stage, 740 Water St. SW, Washington DC (the wharf). Come early if you want to be in the video! For tickets, visit TICKETS.

On January 13, 2017, the Go-Go Symphony will perform the world premiere of “JuJu Symphony” and “Down With You,” two pieces that mark the first ever collaboration between a go-go music celebrity and classical composers.

Juju House (aka Juju), drummer of famed go-go band Experience Unlimited (EU), collaborated with other Go-Go Symphony composers Liza Figueroa Kravinsky, Joshua Cruse, and Andrew Velez to produce these two powerful dance pieces.

“When Juju said he wanted to join the Go-Go Symphony ensemble, I just about fainted,” says Kravinsky, “He’s famous and successful. I couldn’t believe he wanted to work from scratch with us.”

She may have been intimidated by the fact that Juju has also played for Grace Jones (“Slave To The Rhythm”), Chaka Khan, Chuck Brown, and Dionne Farris. However, the Go-Go Symphony already has a budding reputation from its critically acclaimed sell out performances at the Atlas Performing Arts Center and other venues.

JuJu explains, “This is something of taking go-go and being able to broaden it into different elements, but still using my own flavor. That’s what it’s always been about. Being able to blend and properly deliver all the colors together.”

“Collaborating with Juju on a symphony has been quite eye opening,” explains Liza. “I’m learning a lot about rhythm and other things that classical musicians don’t normally think about. Go-Go has a lot to offer the to the classical world.”

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Influential classical music blogger and critic Greg Sandow continues to sing praises of the Go-Go Symphony, challenging the Kennedy Center to put their show on their stage.  Sandow blogs about the future of classical music, and often writes about the Go-Go Symphony as an example of how to revitalize the troubled classical music scene.

Read his blog here:
https://www.artsjournal.com/sandow/2016/03/view-from-the-street.html

Here are some other blogs about the Go-Go Symphony by Greg Sandow and guest blogger Liza Figueroa Kravinsky:
https://www.artsjournal.com/sandow/?s=Liza+Figueroa+Kravinsky

The Go-Go Symphony has been quite visible in the press recently.

Highlights include coverage by the Washington Post, Washington Informer, and On Tap magazine.

Here are some highlighted quotes from the coverage:

“…audiences, critics and bloggers have been taking notice…” – Washington Post

“D.C. Orchestra Unlikely Mix, Excites Audiences” – Washington Informer

“…a genre-defying encore performance…” –  On Tap Magazine

“The buzz is exciting, and I’m also hearing about word of mouth spreading about us.  We’re very excited,” said Go-Go Symphony founder Liza Figueroa Kravinsky.

Says Washington Post
The Capital City Symphony, along with members of the Go-Go Symphony ensemble, performed the first ever fully orchestrated Go-Go Symphony and received a standing ovation, three curtain calls, and rave reviews.

The Washington Post’s review describes that night very well:
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The Go-Go Symphony is considered a maverick project in the classical music world, according to classical music critic and expert Greg Sandow.  Sandow recalls his thoughts when he first heard about the project:

“It didn’t simply combine pop and classical music — that’s been done quite a lot — but also brought together pop and classical musicians. And in a long-term collaboration, not just as a one-shot, like Grizzly Bear playing with the Brooklyn Philharmonic, or Elvis Costello creating The Juliet Letters with the Brodsky Quartet.”

“Still more: the style of pop music involved in Liza’s piece is something with fierce local roots in the place where the project is happening. ”

“All these things are rare, if not unique. And they give the project a kind of street energy not always found in pop/classical collaborations.”

Because the idea is so innovative; Liza Figueroa Kravinsky, composer and conductor of the project, is now a guest blogger in Sandow’s influential blog about the classical music industry.