Awesome Orchestra

During their visit to the BBC’s Radio 2 Piano Room, U2’s Bono and The Edge were joined by an orchestra for this toned-down cover of the ABBA track SOS. They also turned in an excellent orchestral version of their hit track Vertigo. Also, this isn’t the first time U2 performed an ABBA song.

Nyan Cat was one of the biggest memes to hit YouTube in its early days. The animation was known for its pixel art kitty, endless rainbows, and an infectious soundtrack. The Nate Sparks Big Band took that tune and turned it into an incredible 7-minute jazz jam.

The talented musicians of Epic Symphonic Rock live up to their names yet again, this time with a live tribute to heavy metal maestros Iron Maiden. The medley includes big, orchestral versions of The Number of the Beast, Run to the Hills, and Fear of the Dark.

There I Ruined It destroys another popular track. This time they combined the Sir-Mix-A-Lot hit Baby Got Back with the classical sounds of J.S. Bach, under the direction of conductor Leonard Bernstein. Our anacondas don’t want none of this.

Rock out with an orchestral medley of Ozzy Osbourne music as performed by Epic Symphonic Rock. It’s quite a novelty to hear tracks like Perry Mason, Crazy Train, Bark at the Moon, and No More Tears played on the violin, cello, oboe, marimba, and other symphonic instruments.

The members of Epic Symphonic Rock shared footage from one of their concerts, in which they performed a enveloping, larger-than-life orchestral medley of tunes from the Mario Bros. game franchise. Mega Man fans, they’ve got you covered too.

The music of Daft Punk sounds great any way you slice it, but we’re really loving this medley arranged and performed by UK-based Kaleidoscope Orchestra. Among the symphonic covers are Robot Rock, Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger, Something About Us, Aerodynamic, One More Time, Doin’ it Right, and Around the World.

Facing confinement at home, musicians continue to look to streaming video as a way to get their music out to audiences. Like other orchestras around the world, the National Orchestra of France did their part with this energetic performance of Maurice Ravel’s Boléro. The music starts at 0:49.

Wonderfully enigmatic musicians The Flaming Lips teamed up with the Colorado Symphony and conductor André de Ridder to re-record their 1999 album The Soft Bulletin with a full orchestra. Race for the Prize gives us a preview of the live album, which drops 11/29/19.

Musicians Jack Hues and Nick Feldman, better known as Wang Chung teamed up with the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra to record new, symphonic versions of their biggest hit songs, and we think they sound even better than the originals. They even shot new music videos for Everybody Have Fun Tonight and Dance Hall Days.

Fans of classic video games will love this nearly 2-hour-long recording, featuring symphonic arrangements of 8-bit game music. The audio was captured during a performance by C64Audio and Hull Philharmonic Orchestra at Hull City Hall. Available for a limited time, so listen now, or better yet, buy the box set!

The 8-Bit Big Band breathes new life into the soundtrack from the NES classic Super Mario Bros., with an energetic performance of the theme music from the game’s first two worlds by a full orchestra and a chorus providing vocal accompaniment.

During a recent appearance at The Kennedy Center, musician Ben Folds showed off his ability to rapidly improvise, as he composed an entire song live in less than 10 minutes, including all the parts for the National Symphony Orchestra so they could play along.

Pisces Rising presents a larger-than-life rendition of the iconic theme song from Doctor Who, with the Junges Vokalensemble Hannover adding lyricized vocals to the tune, based on “a mix of Sanskrit, faux Latin and various Doctor Who planets/references.”

Nick Proch and his Metamorphestra perform a truly enthralling symphonic take on Tool’s classic Schism. One YouTube commenter smartly observed that it should be part of the soundtrack for a sci-fi film. From the upcoming album, The Ship of Theseus.

Great Big Story takes a look an unusual group of musicians based in Vienna, Austria who play just like any other orchestra, except their instruments are perishable, and must be freshly harvested before each performance. Watch a complete concert here.

We can only imagine how many attempts it took to get this right, as a line of 43 people tossed coins into liquid-filled beakers to play back a passage from one of Mozart’s minuets. Though you can only hear the notes when played back in slow motion.

Chili Klaus convinced the of The Danish National Chamber Orchestra to play Tango Jalousie while eating insanely spicy peppers. Surprisingly, they toughed it out until the end without missing a note. The aftermath, on the other hand…

Nick Proch’s epic arrangement of Rage Against the Machine’s 1992 anthem Killing in the Name played on flutes, clarinets, bassoons, trumpets, violins, cellos, piano and any other instrument the band never used. Want more? Hit Kickstarter.

The radio program Carne Cruda 2.0 organized a flashmob to play Here Comes the Sun at a Madrid unemployment office and share rays of hope with some of the 1 in 4 Spaniards down on their luck.

Trinity Orchestra, Ireland’s only fully student run orchestra, recently played Daft Punk’s Discovery – the first ever live full orchestral performance of the music of the beloved band. (Thanks Larry!)