“The East Texas Symphony Orchestra will present ‘Rock the Classics II’ on Saturday…. The concert includes mash-ups of pop tunes with their counterparts from classical music,” writes Sherry P. Shephard in Wednesday’s (2/23) Longview News-Journal (TX). “ ‘Beyonce had a song called ‘Ave Maria’ and that’s obviously based on classical music, so we’ll play the original as well,’ [conductor Richard] Lee said. ‘… We’re doing Maroon 5 because they borrowed a famous piece called Pachelbel’s Canon.’ What’s important, Lee said, is the concert features local musicians. Joining Lee and the East Texas Symphony Orchestra on stage will be Stanley’s BBQ All-Star Band with Nick Pencis, Gary Freeman, Keith Jones, Matt Raker and Josh Brock. ‘There’s a really great barbecue place called Stanley’s in Tyler and they do live music every night,’ Lee said. ‘Their proprietor is drummer and musician Nick Pencis…. His … band will play a bit of the pop tune and then the orchestra will play the classical piece that inspired it or that the pop tune borrowed from…. Good music shares a lot of things…. Regardless of what kind of music it is, it’s meant to inspire you, move you and make you feel a certain way.’ ”
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