Indigo Girls to Bring New Symphony Tour to Columbus, 4/26

For the first time ever, Grammy-winning folk duo the Indigo Girls, Amy Ray and Emily Saliers, have embarked on a US symphony tour, booking a one-night-only stop in Columbus on April 26 to perform with the Columbus Symphony. With 14 albums to their credit and a career that spans decades, the iconic duo will perform a selection of songs from the 1980s through their most recent release, Beauty Queen Sister, all charted for symphony orchestra.

The Columbus Symphony presents the Indigo Girls at the Ohio Theatre (39 E. State St.) on Saturday, April 26, at 8pm. Tickets are $25-$78 and can be purchased at the CAPA Ticket Center (39 E. State St.), all Ticketmaster outlets, and www.ticketmaster.com. To purchase tickets by phone, please call (614) 228-8600 or (800) 745-3000.

For Ray and Saliers, who've been performing together for more than two decades, this is a chance to hear their music performed in a new way and to also bring something special to their fans. It's an idea they both agree has been a long time coming.

Says Saliers, "I was always awed at Paul Buckmaster's orchestral arrangements for Elton John. Much later on, I was struck by Nanci Griffith's music when played with an orchestra, so I knew it was exciting to hear artists with orchestras. I think Amy and I just decided it was time for us to do it at this point, something new and different and inspiring."

"It can bring new dimension to old songs as well as highlight songs that have string arrangements on the recordings but were never played live in an orchestrated configuration," adds Ray.

The Indigo Girls first performed with an orchestra in 2001, doing a series of shows with the Atlanta Ballet called "Shed Your Skin" that included "a set of songs choreographed with a live band, an orchestra, and incredible dancers," says Ray. "Ever since then, I have pondered how cool it would be to have a set of musical scores to bring to orchestras around the country and play in a completely different setting. I'm looking forward to seeing what our arrangers are going to do with the music and am curious how they will interpret the songs."

Photo credit: Jeremy Cowart

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