Wyclef Jean Performs With The Columbus Symphony

Both with The Fugees and as a solo artist, multi-Grammy Award-winning producer, actor, author, and "hip hop guitarist" Wyclef Jean has successfully blended hip hop with a variety of musical styles. Now for the first time ever, he will perform hits such as "Killing Me Softly with His Song" and "Gone till November" with a full symphony orchestra.

The Columbus Symphony presents A Night of Symphonic Hip Hop featuring Wyclef Jean at the Ohio Theatre (39 E. State St.) on Saturday, February 17, at 8pm. Tickets are $40-$75 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) 469-0939 or (800) 745-3000.

The 2017-18 Pops Series is made possible through the generous support of season sponsor American Electric Power.

About Wyclef Jean

The music that Wyclef Jean has written, performed, and produced-both as a solo superstar and as founder and guiding member of the Fugees-has been a consistently powerful, pop cultural force for more than two decades. In 1996, the Fugees released their monumental album The Score, which inspired notoriously prickly rock critic Robert Christgau to write "so beautiful and funny, its courage could make you weep." The album hit No. 1 on the Billboard chart, spawned a trio of smash singles (including their indelible reinvention of Roberta Flack's 1973 ballad "Killing Me Softly"), and is now certified six times platinum. But Wyclef, a child prodigy with a wealth of musical influences from jazz to classic rock to reggae, resisted the pressure to duplicate the sound and style of that masterwork. Instead, he launched himself as a producer and solo artist whose work drew from an innovative and eclectic palette that included elements of pop, country, folk, disco, Latin, and electronic music.

Wyclef has been rewarded for his creativity and adventurousness with three Grammy Awards, a spot on the cover of Rolling Stone's special "Top 50 Hip Hop Players," and the opportunity to make music with such legends as Michael Jackson, Queen, Mick Jagger, Paul Simon, Earth, Wind & Fire, Kenny Rogers, and Tom Jones. As a solo artist, he has released six albums that have sold nearly nine million copies worldwide, including his 1997 debut The Carnival and 2000's aptly titled The Ecleftic: 2 Sides II a Book which even turned wrestling superstar/action hero The Rock into a pop star with the international hit single "It Doesn't Matter."

www.Wyclef.com

The 2017-18 season is made possible in part by state tax dollars allocated by the Ohio Legislature to the Ohio Arts Council (OAC). The OAC is a state agency that funds and supports quality arts experiences to strengthen Ohio communities culturally, educationally, and economically. The CSO also appreciates the support of the Greater Columbus Arts Council, supporting the city's artists and arts organizations since 1973, and the Robert W. Stevenson, Preston Davis, and Kenneth L. Coe and Jack Barrow funds of The Columbus Foundation, assisting donors and others in strengthening our community for the benefit of all its citizens.

About the Columbus Symphony Orchestra

Founded in 1951, the Columbus Symphony is the longest-running, professional symphony in central Ohio. Through an array of innovative artistic, educational, and community outreach programming, the Columbus Symphony is reaching an expanding, more diverse audience each year. This season, the Columbus Symphony will share classical music with more than 175,000 people in central Ohio through concerts, radio broadcasts, and special programming. For more information, visit www.columbussymphony.com.