{"id":405509,"date":"2026-07-20T18:13:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T18:13:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/405509\/"},"modified":"2026-07-20T18:13:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T18:13:09","slug":"st-vincent-dives-into-orchestral-music-after-collaborations-with-taylor-swift-david-byrne-nirvana-san-diego-union-tribune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/405509\/","title":{"rendered":"St. Vincent dives into orchestral music after collaborations with Taylor Swift, David Byrne, Nirvana \u2013 San Diego Union-Tribune"},"content":{"rendered":"

How is six-time 2025 Grammy Award-winner St. Vincent upping her creative game after high-profile collaborations with everyone from David Byrne, Nirvana and Taylor Swift to Fiona Apple, Sufjan Stevens and Dua Lipa?<\/p>\n

Cue up the orchestra \u2014 literally \u2014 for this acclaimed musical polymath and Texas native (real name: Annie Clark). St. Vincent\u2019s 15-city summer tour finds her collaborating with the San Diego Symphony, the San Francisco Symphony, the New York Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony and other leading orchestras.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s thrilling!\u201d she said, speaking from her Los Angeles home last Friday. \u201cSo much of the music that I was writing, especially on my early early records, was so inspired by orchestral music, 19th and 20th century orchestral music. So, to actually hear it played (now), as it was intended, is amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Exactly how amazing is vividly captured on St. Vincent\u2019s wonderfully audacious new double-album with the Jules Buckley Orchestra, \u201cLive in London! (BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall).\u201d<\/p>\n

A career-spanning opus that showcases her increasingly assured singing and guitar work, it features freshly reimagined versions of pieces from her earliest and most recent studio albums \u2014 2007\u2019s \u201cMarry Me\u201d to 2024\u2019s \u201cAll Born Screaming\u201d \u2014 and various points in between. The arrangements bring added depth and resonance to such standout St. Vincent songs as \u201cSmoking Section,\u201d \u201cMarrow,\u201d \u201cViolent Time\u201d and \u201cDigital Witness,\u201d whose sharply honed lyrics lament the increasingly soul-sapping impact of social media.<\/p>\n

The delicate nuances, contrapuntal percussive accents and bold orchestral flourishes expand the emotional and textural dimensions of her work. The arrangements are by such simpatico collaborators as veteran St. Vincent band keyboardist Rachel Eckroth, Sam Gale, Peter Riley, Jochen Neuffer, Tom Trapp and orchestra leader Buckley, who is also serving as the conductor on this tour.<\/p>\n

Buckley is the creative-artist-in-residence with London\u2019s BBC Symphony Orchestra and the principal guest conductor of the Netherlands\u2019 genre-blurring Metropole Orkest. His previous credits include orchestral collaborations with Tori Amos, Massive Attack, Arctic Monkeys, Paul Weller, Velvet Underground co-founder John Cale, former San Diego singer Gregory Porter and more.<\/p>\n

Gregory Porter rises up on stirring new album: \u2018We need things to elevate us\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThis whole thing came together because of my involvement playing with Rachel Eckroth and her friendship with Jules, who\u2019s such an incredible conductor and also arranger,\u201d St. Vincent said. \u201cWe had been talking about doing something with the BBC Proms for a couple years, and it finally was the right time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"St.St. Vincent is shown at her 2025 London concert with the Jules Buckley Orchestra. The performance has now been released on her new double album, \u201cLive in London!\u201d (Andy Paraside \/ Courtesy Nasty Little Man)
\nA bold reinvention<\/p>\n

It is clear St. Vincent relishes the opportunity to explore new artistic terrain by revisiting \u2014 and reinventing \u2014 her shape-shifting songs anew. With nearly a dozen solo albums to her credit, there were many options to consider for inclusion on \u201cLive in London!\u201d Narrowing them down to the 19 selections featured on the album required careful consideration.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would say the process was first, of course, the song selection,\u201d she said, \u201cand what story do you want to tell? What songs (are in) the back catalog that maybe haven\u2019t been touched in a while, that could use a dusting off and a re-presenting?<\/p>\n

\u201cRachel and Jules divided up the songs to arrange, and then they would send me mini-arrangements of things, and I would make notes and send it back. On some songs, I would say I had a lot of notes. And on other songs, I had very few notes and just kind of blessed it. My favorite arrangements are the ones that Rachel had a hand in. We\u2019ve been playing together now for about five years, and I think she just knocked it out of the park with these arrangements.\u201d<\/p>\n

Perhaps coincidentally, St. Vincent\u2019s official foray into the world of orchestral music was followed by her performing \u2014 \u201cin a tiny, tiny cameo appearance \u2014 early this year in a New York production of Richard Foreman\u2019s surrealistic opera, \u201cWhat To Wear.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat just really opened my eyes to to the to the world of opera the work ethic of opera singers, and just how incredible they are,\u201d she said. \u201cSo, I would hope (in the future) to have made some more large-scale theatrical works. I mean, not necessarily like a musical, because I don\u2019t like musicals, for the most part, with rare exceptions. But to just keep exploring that intersection of art, theater and visual art.\u201d<\/p>\n

St. Vincent\u2019s introduction to the music of such towering composers as Stravinsky, Bartok and Debussy came when she attended Boston\u2019s prestigious Berklee College of Music 25 years ago, when she was in her late teens.<\/p>\n

Before enrolling at Berkley, she spent time as a roadie and tour manager for her virtuoso guitarist uncle\u2019s duo, Tuck & Patti, an experience that proved foundational for her. St. Vincent touched upon thrdr and other topics in our July 17th interview, which has been edited for length and clarity.<\/p>\n

\"AnnieAnnie Clark, known professionally as St. Vincent, strikes a pose at Electric Lady Studios in New York. (OK McCausland).<\/p>\n

Q: We last spoke in 2014, when you were on tour with David Byrne, and you told me: \u201cI think the most valuable thing I got out of attending Berklee is simply being exposed to more music that I didn\u2019t know, specifically composers like Stravinsky and Debussy, more modern classical music that I think probably has worked its way into my subconscious pretty deeply. In a lot of ways, I\u2019m a more intuitive musician. I can be as cerebral as the next person, but I don\u2019t analyze chord charts and diagram harmony for fun. It\u2019s either in my ears or not.\u201d So, to start off: Were there any specific pieces by Debussy or Stravinsky, maybe La Mer or Petrushka, that really resonated with you?<\/p>\n

St. Vincent\u2019s heady musical ascension<\/a><\/p>\n

St. Vincent: Oh, yeah. My song \u201cMarrow\u201d is, basically, a love letter to Petrushka. So, it\u2019s funny and humbling to actually be playing these songs with an orchestra that \u2014 \u00a0in so many ways \u2014 I originally envisioned (orchestrally) and were inspired by orchestral music. Specifically (with) Petrushka, it\u2019s a real full-circle moment.<\/p>\n

Q: It\u2019s one thing to envision doing an orchestral concert, album and tour, and another to make it a reality. What have been the biggest rewards, surprises, and challenges for you with this?<\/p>\n

St. Vincent: The biggest reward is you get to know a city by its orchestra. One of my favorite things is to get the whole orchestra on our side by the end of (each concert). And my hope is that they get to have a lot of fun. I know it\u2019s not Mahler or their typical programming. But it really is rewarding to me when the orchestra ends up having a great time. You said most rewarding. What was the other one?<\/p>\n

Q: There were two others: surprises and challenges.<\/p>\n

St. Vincent: Well, I\u2019m not completely surprised, but I love doing these shows so much. I knew that I would enjoy it, but I didn\u2019t know I would enjoy it as much as I am. And I hope that I get to do this (again) going forward. And that, as I make new records, we just add more to the repertoire and then come out and do orchestral shows when there\u2019s more to be said.<\/p>\n

(Doing this) is like you\u2019re standing in front of a giant wave of beauty. So for me, the challenge \u2014 as a singer and performer and musician \u2014 is to be as completely in the moment as possible and be a surfer on that wave. Because just the sound of an orchestra itself is massive. There\u2019s 60 people behind you, playing their hearts out \u2014 that\u2019s the beauty, and the challenge, of it.<\/p>\n

Q: Is it liberating for you to do these songs with an orchestra?<\/p>\n

St. Vincent: Oh, god, yeah! There are songs from my early records, like \u201cParis Is Burning,\u201d that I always wanted to have a whole French horn section playing the opening line, which is basically a nod to (Tchaikovsky\u2019s) Peter and the Wolf. And now I can. Now, it\u2019s finally realized. Back in the day making those early records, I was just scrappy. It was a (low) budget affair, so I couldn\u2019t exactly commission a 60-piece orchestra to play.<\/p>\n

\"Shape-shiftingShape-shifting music maverick St. Vincent has won six Grammy Awards, with three of those wins in 2025 alone. (File photo)<\/p>\n

Q: How foundational was it for you as a teenager to go on the road with Tuck & Patti?<\/p>\n

St. Vincent: Deeply so. I got to travel around and tour with them, starting when I was 18, and got to see what it was really like to be a musician on the road. And I think it very much instilled in me this idea that I should know every aspect of my craft and to be as technically literate as I could, musically. I think that\u2019s served me well. Because it\u2019s offered me a whole lot of autonomy in the process (of making music) because I know how to record myself (and) arrange things myself, from very scrappy DYI to a little bit more professional.\u00a0I think I\u2019ve been able to (achieve) the sound I hear in my head, especially with my last record, which I produced and spent a while lot of time on.<\/p>\n

Q:\u00a0Hindsight being 20\/20, when you look back on your 2012 \u201cLove That Giant\u201d tour with David Byrne, does it seem like it was almost a blueprint for his \u201cAmerican Utopia\u201d tour six years later?<\/p>\n

St. Vincent: I would never suppose that I know what David is up to, or gonna make next. He\u2019s such a genius and so multifaceted and multidisciplinary that I\u2019m always just\u00a0 so pleasantly surprised. I do think that was, you know, that was the beginning. I think of him really liking everybody (in the band) being wireless and ambulatory. So, yeah, I guess\u2014\u00a0looking back \u2014 that was kind of the blueprint. Because everybody, all the horn players on that tour, and me and David were dancing, and making formations, and all very choreographed. Yeah. That\u2019s interesting. I hadn\u2019t kind of put that all together, but I love that show.<\/p>\n

Q: Here\u2019s a hypothetical question: You decide to take some time off, and \u2014 almost concurrently \u2014 you get offers to work with Bjork, Joni Mitchell, Tom Waits and a new edition of King Crimson. What do you do?<\/p>\n

St. Vincent: I\u2019d figure out a way to work with every single one of them! What do I do? I mean, you just named, like, my holy trinity! I was just listening to (Waits\u2019 1977 album) \u201cForeign Affairs\u201d this morning. What do I do? I\u2019d sit at the feet of the masters and try to be of service.<\/p>\n

Q: Are they all equal to you? If you could only work with one of them, would you gravitate more towards one?<\/p>\n

St. Vincent: Oh man, that\u2019s a tricky question. I could be very practical with it. Like, Joni\u2019s probably the oldest of the people you mentioned, so maybe I ought to slide in there before\u2026 I\u2019m sorry, that sounds morbid. I don\u2019t know, maybe I\u2019m overthinking this. There are people, these great artists, who you feel like you could make something great with. And there are some artists that you go: \u201cI wouldn\u2019t touch a hair on your head.\u201d<\/p>\n

Q: But in this case, you would touch all their hair?<\/p>\n

St. Vincent: That would be the hope \u2014 and just walk away with a handful of\u00a0pomade!<\/p>\n

St. Vincent with the San Diego Symphony, with Arooj Aftab<\/p>\n

When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 1<\/p>\n

Where: The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park, 222 Marina Park Way, downtown<\/p>\n

Tickets: $68-$115<\/p>\n

Phone: 619-235-0804<\/p>\n

Online: theshell.org<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"How is six-time 2025 Grammy Award-winner St. Vincent upping her creative game after high-profile collaborations with everyone from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":405510,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[7,967,181,6682,74,84,76,75,420],"class_list":["post-405509","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-california","tag-entertainment","tag-latest-headlines","tag-music-and-concerts","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-county","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news","tag-things-to-do"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405509","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=405509"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405509\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/405510"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=405509"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=405509"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=405509"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}