Sidwell — a trumpet player and arranger whose credits include Shirley Bassey, Pet Shop Boys and Blur — recently answered some questions from his home in London.
Q: You’ve done a lot in your career and you remain busy. What keeps you involved with this Queen program after nearly 10 years?
A: “I really love doing it, and it’s the only thing I conduct regularly. I did all the arrangements so it’s sort of my baby. It’s great fun to stand up in front of an orchestra and a rock band and conduct your own arrangements. The music Queen made is great, so it’s fantastic.”
Q: Queen didn’t use a lot of strings in their music. How did you approach the orchestration?
A: “I took a lot of the ideas out of what’s already going on in the music. There are little lines in Queen songs you don’t hear until you really start to dig deep. There are little clever things going on so you extract those and bring them out to the front more. Then I added some counter melodies and stuff to give the songs a little more color. It makes them more grand and epic.”
Q: How is this concert different than “We Will Rock You,” the Queen musical?
A: “There’s no dressing up and trying to be them. We’re paying homage to Queen’s music. People always ask me why I don’t do a similar kind of thing with another band but there aren’t any, frankly. I’ve sat down with people and gone through different bands but they never have the depth and influences. Nobody comes close.”
Q: The surviving members of Queen are touring this summer with singer Adam Lambert. How does that impact your show?
A: “If Queen is coming through some places, they may pass on our show but there are always enough people who want to go see Queen. We get great feedback on the show and people always come back.”
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WANT TO GO?
What: Guest conductor Richard Sidwell presents "The Music of Queen" with the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra and special guests
Where: Schuster Center, Second and Main streets, Dayton
When: 8 p.m. Saturday, April 29
Cost: $27-$81
More info: 937-228-3630 or www.ticketcenterstage.com
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