Mos Def via Wikipedia:
Hopeful NY Magazine article by Justin Davidson on Alan Pierson's new job leading the Brooklyn Philharmonic:
It’s hard to imagine what self-respecting conductor would be crazy enough to go near the Brooklyn Philharmonic, which in recent years has managed to shed its stable budget, its visibility, its subscriber list, and its home. The answer is Alan Pierson, who has led many performances of the Beatles’ all-electronic “Revolution No. 9” transcribed for chamber orchestra but has never conducted, say, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3. He’s a man who relishes the challenge of reinvention.
First up is a free concert in October of Mos Def music arranged by Derek Bermel along with Frederic Rzeswki's Coming Together. Later events look just as interesting.
For the record, Mos Def is also an actor, for example playing Chuck Berry in the Chicago blues film Cadillac Records. That film revitalized my interest in Chicago blues. Alan Pierson leads the contemporary classical group Alarm Will Sound, who in the past played memorable concerts at Berkeley and Stanford.
