Kid Rock and Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) fans are in for a rare treat on May 12, 2012 when the two join forces.  Rock and the DSO are set to hold a benefit concert at the Fox Theatre in Detroit to raise $1 million for the DSO. 

The concert was originally the idea of Quicken Loans founder and chairman Dan Gilbert.  Gilbert was attempting to help the DSO settle its musician strike last winter when he had the idea to pair Rock with the symphony. 

Rock told Billboard.com that although he has never attended a DSO concert “as a musician, a cultural institution like that in Detroit is important.”  Rock, his Twisted Brown Trucker band, the DSO, Leonard Slatkin, and the Fox Theatre are all volunteering their services for the concert.  The proceeds will go to the DSO to help fund their outreach, engagement, and community service work.

Conductor Leonard Slatkin has collaborated with musicians in the genres of jazz, rock, and fusions before and has no reservations about performing with Kid Rock.  According to the Detroit Free Press, Slatkin put Rock’s people in touch with Rob Mathes, an arranger he has often worked with.  Mathes, the musical director of the annual Kennedy Center Honors, has also worked with a diverse range of artists including Sting and Mary J. Blige.

Rock told Billboard.com that they are “in the early stages” of planning the concert’s set.  He also said that all his work is under consideration.  “I hear ‘Bawitdaba’ being kind of insane. ‘Cowboy’ seems to be a little tricky, but maybe…we don’t call them violins; we call them fiddles for that song.”

Tickets now on sale range in price from $100-$350, with VIP packages as high as $1500 also available.  The VIP packages include premiere seating and access to an exclusive after party.  Rock has acknowledged that the prices are higher than what his fans are used to paying but he assures that the show will be “well worth the price of admission.”  As he told Billboard.com, “It’s not going to be a show people have seen before at all, in any regard.  All I can guarantee is it’ll be interesting.”

Kid Rock grew up in and currently resides in Detroit.  He has been known to support charitable causes and his hometown.  The promise of the $1 million this concert will raise was pivotal in ending the musician’s strike.  Rock said in a statement, “As a musician, and of course a Detroiter, I am proud to be supporting this longstanding cultural institution.”

Leonard Slatkin told the Detroit Free Press, “What he is doing for Detroit is nothing short of amazing!  I can think of very few contemporary musicians who believe so whole-heartedly in their city.”

Image Courtesy of   http://www.flickr.com/photos/tncountryfan/

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About the author

Amanda Brandt
Amanda Brandt is a recent graduate of the University of Wisconsin-River Falls with a B.S. in English Creative Writing with a Professional Writing minor.