Credit: Roger IdendenR.E.M. bassist Mike Mills has composed his first ever classical work, called Concerto for Violin, Rock Band and String Orchestra. The piece, which Mills performs with violinist Robert McDuffie, will be released on October 14.
“It is a pleasure and an honor to have composed and to perform this amazing project alongside my old friend Bobby, whose imagination and encouragement got the whole thing off the ground in the first place,” says Mills in a statement. “I can’t wait to see where it takes us.”
Mills will take his Concerto on a tour this fall, starting October 20 in Miami. He will be joined by McDuffie and the Fifth House Ensemble chamber orchestra.
Mills was one of the four original members of R.E.M., and he stayed with the band until they broke up in 2011.
Here are Mike Mills’ Concerto for Violin, Rock Band and String Orchestra tour dates:
10/20 — Miami, FL, Knight Concert Hall
10/21 — St. Petersburg, FL, Mahaffey Theater
10/24 — Athens, GA, Hodgson Hall
10/25 — Newberry, SC, Newberry Opera House
10/27 — Macon, GA, Macon City Auditorium
10/28 — Atlanta, GA, Emerson Concert Hall at Emory Univ.
10/29 — Charleston, SC, Charleston Music Hall
10/30 — Chapel Hill, NC, Memorial Auditorium
11/1 — Newport News, VA, Ferguson Center for the Arts
11/3 — North Bethesda, MD, Music Center at Strathmore
11/4 — Pittsburgh, PA, Byham Theater
11/5 — Carmel, IN, Palladium Center for the Arts
11/6 — Detroit, MI, Music Hall
11/7 — Chicago, IL, Harris Theatre
Copyright © 2016, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.