Mos Def Teams Up with Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra

Rapper turned actor Mos Def is taking a temporary break from the glitz and glamor of Hollywood’s cameras to return to what he knows best – emceeing.

In an effort to blend hip-hop with classical music, the former Black Star artist has joined forces with the Brooklyn Philharmonic as part of the Orchestra’s New Sounds Live event.

According to the New York Times, the event’s focus is to promote a sampling of what the full orchestra – under the command of their new artistic director Alan Pierson – will perform during the 2011-2012 season.

The New York Times’ Zachary Woolfe, who attended the event’s first performance on Saturday, said :

In front of the most diverse crowd I’ve ever seen at a “classical music” concert, Mr. Pierson led an ensemble of the orchestra’s members in three songs by the hip-hop artist (and Bedford-Stuyvesant native) Mos Def, who also joined in a brilliant performance of Frederic Rzewski’s “Coming Together,” written after the 1971 Attica prison uprising.”

Mos Def, 37, dedicated his performance to the recently deceased death row inmate Troy Davis, who was executed – amid much controversy – by lethal injection in Georgia last month.

In case you missed the opportunity to see the Philharmonic’s hip-hop inspired performance on Saturday, Mos Def will join the orchestra again on Wednesday, October 12 at 12:30pm at the Restoration Rocks Festival in Brooklyn and then later that same evening at 7:00pm at the World Financial Center in New York City.

For additional information on the special event, head over to Brooklyn Philharmonic’s website.

Img source: The Urban Daily