The Rock Orchestra By Candlelight at Keller Auditorium

Our ears can hear the distinct polarities between rock music and the classical genre. But there is a place where these opposing forces in music collide and create a beautiful and somber fusion of sounds and melodies that are not only audible through one's ears but also pierces through one's inner being. Welcome to The Rock Orchestra By Candlelight.

Founded and created in 2020 by events producer, Nathan Reed, who also conceptualized and mounted the off-beat show "Festival of The Dead", The Rock Orchestra By Candlelight has garnered its own ardent set of followers.

“It really started as a spin-off event. We had been running the Festival of the Dead which we describe as a carnival come circus, come clubbing experience, But lockdown curtailed these big weekend events. The music theme to the festival is predominantly rock and metal and that was where the idea for the new show came from,” says Reed.

Aside from putting together a 15-strong orchestra composed of top-caliber classical musicians willing to venture into the uncharted murky waters of rock music, compiling a set list proved to be one of the show's biggest challenges.

“You realise how broad rock and metal genres are when you come to tackle putting a setlist together,” said Nathan. “There are multiple decades and multiple genres to traverse. We’ve tried to take cornerstone tracks and put them together in a way that flows nicely. We’ve waved our magic wand over them so all the tracks been specifically arranged to be cohesive.

“If you played the original songs together it might leave you scratching your head a little but when you hear them played by the orchestra it makes sense.
You also realise how special some of those songs are. Stairway to Heaven played by an orchestra is mind-blowing," describes Reed.

Rock music's biggest names and their colossal timeless hits will be spun around within the complex structures of sonatas and symphonies. The anthems of Aerosmith, The Cranberries, System of A Down, Metallica, Guns n' Roses, and many others, will transform into a 90-minute spellbinding dark rhapsodies.

Nathan Reed passionately explains this phenomenon as “Bringing this project to life has been an awesome whirlwind”, comments Nathan Reed, founder of The Rock Orchestra. “It astounds me how these legendary Rock tracks are transformed, nuanced with delicately beautiful melodies yet still delivering a powerful wall of sound that goes straight through your chest."

Tickets to The Rock Orchestra By Candlelight at Keller Auditorium on Thursday 17th April 2025, are now available to book. Click the 'Get Tickets' link on this page right now!