National Geographic’s Symphony For Our World begins touring this month, with its inaugural performance set for Earth Day, April 22nd, at San Francisco’s Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall. The show pairs National Geographic’s unparalleled natural history footage with a performance by a full orchestra and choir, which will perform a Bleeding Fingers Music-original five-part composition.
Symphony For Our World is a powerful tribute to the natural world, with each movement of the composition focusing on a different natural environment. Pairing artistry with science, across its 90-minute length, the show will focus on the deep sea, coastlines, mountains, and the sky. The symphony, which was created by Emmy- and BAFTA-nominated Bleeding Fingers Music including renowned composers Austin Fray and Andrew Christie, also features contributions from the multi-platinum modern rock stars X Ambassadors.
Grammy- and Tony-award winning actor, rapper, and producer, Daveed Diggs—who is best known for his award-winning work on Hamilton—will narrate National Geographic’s Symphony For Our World. As Diggs shared in a press released, “Working with National Geographic on this new kind of immersive storytelling, and sharing so much about the world with music, is something near and dear to my heart.”
JooWan Kim of Ensemble Mik Nawooj has also signed on to compose the score for the show’s narrations and overture. As he explained in a press release, “I had a great time collaborating with the creative director, Ryan, as he gave me the freedom to be inventive in deconstructing Le Carnaval as well as the iconic Elmer Bernstein National Geographic theme. The idea was to create new pieces based on the originals as opposed to medleys with modified instrumentation, which I believe we succeed in doing. I injected boom bap, trap, and other variants of Hip-Hop whenever possible so people could bop their heads to.”
Symphony For Our World is officially licensed by Natural Geographic, produced by Jason Michael Paul Entertainment, and promoted by MGP Live. Thus far, Symphony For Our World has dozens of tour dates around the world on the calendar, with performances spanning through to February of 2019. However, those unable to catch the show in person or eager to see it before it comes to a major city nearby will be able to watch the symphony when it premieres commercial-free on Nat Geo WILD during an hour-long special on April 22nd at 7 p.m. (EST)/6 p.m. (CST).
You can watch the trailer for National Geographic’s Symphony For Our World below. For more information about the touring performance or to see upcoming world tour dates, head to the show’s website here.