The Orchestra Returns: A Conversation with Harry Levin
Journalist Harry Levin stops by to talk about why everyone is partying like it's 1792
Sometimes you don’t realize you’re seeing a trend until someone points it out to you. That happened recently when I was talking with journalist Harry Levin. Levin pointed out that orchestras have started to resurge. Pop stars are collaborating with them. Music festivals are booking them. Famous films are going on tour with them providing live music. It’s like we’re living in 1813.
A passionate lover of classical music, Levin decided that this trend was worth covering. He recently launched Orchestrology, a newsletter, podcast, and Instagram page dedicated to all things orchestra related, with a special concern for how orchestras are intersecting with the world of popular music. We sat down for a brief chat to discuss why this is happening now and what excites him most about it. Subscribe to his newsletter if you want to learn more.
I want to start with maybe the broadest question: Why? Why are you covering orchestras now? For most people, they feel like part of the distant past. But you think the orchestra is alive and well.
Honestly, I just noticed things happening in the space. In the podcast I recorded with Derek Hodge, we talked about the surge in orchestral crossovers with popular music. Hodge wrote orchestral arrangements for the 20th anniversary of Nas’s Illmatic that were performed by the National Symphony Orchestra. That was the first time they ever performed hip-hop.
I come from a classical background. Combining that with my experience as a journalist, I just started to notice that Hodge’s work was part of a larger trend. The electronic artist John Summit just did something with an orchestra. Dua Lipa has done some work with an orchestra. It just felt like this was happening enough to dive deeper.
Along with popular artists using orchestras, you also have groups like Kaleidoscope Orchestra who began just doing classical versions of popular songs. They grew enough of an audience to start doing original material too. So, a lot is happening, and I’m here to talk about it.
When you launched this platform, you framed it as part of a larger social trend where people are longing for social connection. What do you mean by that?
Between COVID and digital places replacing physical spaces, I think it’s obvious that people are looking for in person connection. When you can use AI to produce entire songs, I think the re-emergence of the orchestra represents the desire to make music with other people. Obviously, part of this is something that I am hoping is true. But I think there is evidence for it as well.
That point about AI frames some of this as a technological backlash. But I think what is also interesting about this is that some of the interest in orchestral music is enabled by the same technology that pushed it near obsolescence. I had a friend, for example, who would listen to hours of classical music while studying in college. Most of that was accessible to him because it was on YouTube. Do you think technology has also enabled this resurgance?
Absolutely. As I was preparing for the launch of Orchestrology, I realized that it doesn’t have to be either-or. You can still utilize analog instruments while making music on your computer. You can pick up a trumpet and a laptop. Technology is still vital for this trend to proliferate.
Back in the day, many people discovered The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show. Now, those discoveries happen on Spotify. You can discover a pop star singing with an orchestra on a streaming service. That’s fine. There’s no gatekeeping with music anymore. I want technology to make this resurgence even stronger. I want it to inspire people to go out to concerts.
Relatedly, there seems to be more money in live music than ever before. It feels like pop stars are using orchestral arrangements as an additional selling point for their expensive concerts. Do you think that’s also part of this resurgence?
Totally. If you’ve watched Dua Lipa’s concert with an orchestra, you can see how it not only sounds good but is exciting to watch. It makes a concert much more dynamic than one singer roaming around stage performing over a backing track.
