MSO (The Muncie Symphony Orchestra) Presents the World Premiere of Joe Deninzon’s “Dream Diary: Concerto for 7-String Electric Violin and Orchestra”

Hailed by critics as “The Jimi Hendrix of the Violin,” Joe Deninzon will be performing his seven-string electric violin concerto with the Muncie Symphony Orchestra on Saturday, September 19, at 4:00PM.  This performance takes place in Sursa Hall on the campus of Ball State University. Sursa Hall is located at 1809 W. Riverside Ave., in Muncie, IN.

For ticket info, please call the Emens Box Office at 765-285-1539.

A 14-time BMI Jazz Composer’s grant recipient and winner of the John Lennon Songwriting contest, Joe is the lead singer and violinist for the progressive rock group Stratospheerius, which had its fifth album, THE NEXT WORLD released on Steve Vai’s Digital Nations. Joe is also a member of the Latin classical hip hop string quartet, Sweet Plantain. His work as a violinist and string arranger can be heard on over 100 CDs and jingles. Mr. Deninzon has worked with Sheryl Crow, Bruce Springsteen, Ritchie Blackmore of Deep Purple, Smokey Robinson, Aretha Franklin, and dozens of other projects.

As an educator, Joe has taught rock violin at Mark O’Connor’s String Camp and Mark Wood’s Rock Orchestra Camp. Mel Bay Publications released his book, PLUGGING IN on electric violin technique. Joe holds Bachelor’s degrees in Violin Performance and Jazz Violin from Indiana University and a Master’s in Jazz/Commercial violin from Manhattan School of Music.

“Dream Diary” was inspired, in part, by Joe’s roots in studying classical music and falling in love with ‘80s/’90s guitar virtuosos such as Steve Vai, Eddie Van Halen, Joe Satriani, Eric Johnson, and Extreme’s Nuno Bettencourt. 

Stating his best ideas come to him when he dreams, Joe’s “Dream Diary” concerto offers surreal imagery and is “very dream-like.” In the concerto, Joe also uses rock guitar effects on his violin such as distortion, delay, whammies, wah-wah, and loops.

Appreciating his style and passion, MSO Artistic Director / conductor, Douglas Droste, approached Deninzon with an idea for a concerto for rock violin and orchestra. "I cannot wait to bring this concerto to Muncie, with the hopes that it will attract new audiences and give our long-time concertgoers a new twist on an old genre."  

Also on the program are Leonard Bernstein’s “Candide Overture” and Tchaikovsky’s “Symphony No. 4.” As part of the  3:00PM pre-concert talk, Mr. Deninzon will share more about his work.

www.JoeDeninzon.com

About Muncie Symphony Orchestra 

Founded in 1948, the Muncie Symphony Orchestra seeks to provide its audience with rewarding musical experiences and to promote social exchange among attendees of the musical events. As an organization that celebrates the cultural vibrancy of East Central Indiana, the MSO uses music as a way to engage, educate, entertain and enrich through traditional classical and pops concerts, children’s concert, chamber events, and community engagement programs.

www.MuncieSymphony.org

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The music of Joe Deninzon & Stratospheerius Performed by (High School) Honors Orchestra at Oklahoma State University, January 26

Stratospheerius leader Joe Deninzon to perform with The OSU Honors Orchestra

Joe Deninzon will be playing electric violin when he joins the best young orchestra (violin, viola, cello, bass) students in Oklahoma as they include orchestral versions of his compositions, most of which appear as rock songs on THE NEXT WORLD (Joe's most recent album with his rock band Stratospheerius). Joe and the OSU Honors Orchestra perform this January 26, at 7:30 pm, in the Seretean Center Concert Hall, at the University of Oklahoma Stillwell under the direction of OSU symphony orchestra conductor Douglas Droste. Professor Droste will also conduct "Perseus" by Soon Hee Newbold.

Joe will be rehearsing with the students on January 25 and during the day on the 26.

Joe Deninzon & Stratospheerius call themselves a "Rock group," with a musical range that combines jam, fusion, rock, progressive, virtuoso, singer-songwriter, jazz and hard rock. The band is on the soundtrack of the recent Will Ferrell/Adam McKay-produced movie, VIRGINITY HIT. Stratospheerius was a winner in the John Lennon Songwriting Competition, won the Online People's Choice Awards in the Cornucopia Festival, and was named "Best Jam Band" in Musician's Atlas Independent Music Awards. The band will be a subject of a feature in an upcoming issue of PROGRESSION magazine, in 2013.

Stratospheerius' new album THE NEXT WORLD is on Steve Vai's Digital Nations and Joe's imprint D-Zone Entertainment. The album was featured on over 80 radio stations and entered at #10 on the Jam Band charts, and stayed there for two months. BLOGCRITICS writes, "If Jeff Beck had been a fiddlemaster with a streak of humor." Binghamton's PRESS & SUN BULLETIN calls the group "innovative."

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER praises Stratospheerius for its "funky electric violins, driving guitar rhythms, and fevered drumming layered in an explosive fashion."

Joe Deninzon has written the book on Electric Violin--literally; Mel Bay books has released his "PLUGGING IN: A Guide To Gear and New Techniques for the 21st Century Violinist" at NAMM. Often called "The Jimi Hendrix of the Electric Violin," his innovative performances on the electric seven-string violin and his compositions blend rock, funk, jazz, classical, and Eastern European Gypsy influences. While leading Stratospheerius since 2001, Joe has worked with Bruce Springsteen, Sheryl Crow, Les Paul, Phoebe Snow, and Ritchie Blackmore, and President Clinton. He can be heard on over 100 recordings and jingles as a violinist and string arranger, including the new NIKE commercial which was repeatedly broadcast during the London Olympics.