Piano-man Billy Joel will debut his latest composition with a symphony orchestra.
Joel composed the piece 'Waltz No. 2', which will be performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra on January 26th, 2008. Billy will also perform a selection of his pop material with the orchestra.The show will also mark the 151st anniversary of the Philadelphia's Academy of Music. Blue Man Group is scheduled to be part of the performance.
The Philadelphia Orchestra will be conducted by German born Christoph Eschenbach. The maestro was named principal guest conductor of the London Philharmonic in 1981 and in 1988 assumed the post of Music Director for the Houston Symphony in Texas where he stayed for 11 years.
Classical music is not a new thing for Billy Joel. In 2001, he released his classical work 'Opus 1-10 Fantasies & Delusions Music for Solo Piano'. 'Waltz No. 2' was featured on that album.
2007 saw the release of two new Billy Joel pop songs.
On December 4, the new Joel composition 'Christmas In Fallujah' was released by new talent Cass Dillion. Joel's band was the backing band for the track. Proceeds from the song went to Home For Our Troops, a nonprofit organization that builds homes for returned servicemen returning from Iraq and Afghanistan were received disabilities as a result of the war.
Joel wrote the song in response to letters he received fro soldiers in Iraq.
Cass Dillion is a new signing to Joel's indie label Mulberry Street Records.
The other new Joel song of 2007 was 'All My Life'. Strangely, it was completely ignored by mainstream radio.
'All My Life' was Joel's first new pop music since 1993's 'River of Dreams.
He recorded the song with his longtime producer Phil Ramone, who worked with Billy on 'The Stranger' and '52nd Street'.
'All My Life' went completely unnoticed when it was released in February 2007, not that that would phase Joel. He wrote the song as a present for his wife, Katie Lee Joel.
