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(orchestra warming up) (musicians chattering) - Hello, how are you?

- I'm good, how are you?

- I'm so excited for this.

- I am too!

It is the best.

(musicians chattering) - Laura, you get to lead.

- On viola?

- Yeah.

- Oh, you get two whole notes to yourself.

- Ready?

(somber classical music) - You know, classical music often gets a bad rap.

It has a very specific connotation.

We just want to create music.

Our musicians live and work here, and yes, they play the cello and the timpani, but they are just living, working musicians who want to create art.

So we are really excited to actually create something that's totally new, to some people.

But really, we've seen this done before.

Metallica has had a symphonic album done for over 30 years.

This is just a way for us to really create live music, create live experiences, and break down those barriers that what people think classical music is, and really celebrate the wonderful diversity of arts we have here in the Twin Ports.

- Not that I can't be creative in classical, it's just being creative in a very different way, I think.

I do a lot of improvisation, and that side of things, and I have always loved blending styles.

I know there's, I think I even do that in classical a little bit, but I really do that, I play in a bluegrass band, and I'm always sort of, how can I throw some of the things I do in classical, but make them sound, you know, kind of fun and bluegrassy, and sort of push the boundaries, and see what I can do?

And I think there is a freedom that I get with that, and it's just different in classical.

So, it's sort of the best of all worlds.

- All right, friends.

- Yay!

- This is Superior Siren.

(all applauding) - It's really an honor and opportunity of a lifetime to be collaborating with you all in this moment.

- Amazing.

- It's really fun to like, read, see music parts again, because I haven't done that for a while, but I was like, yes, I can do it, it's great.

- So good.

- I just wanna say that I'm not classically trained.

I did sing in choir, most of my life, so I have a little bit, but a lot of it is just playing what I hear.

But I'm really excited for this opportunity, and I think we're definitely gonna grow a lot through it.

- We're here to learn.

- Yeah.

- Us too, us too.

- Yeah!

That's what it's about.

And then, to clarify, I mean, we're gonna play the songs, and is it more like you're following along with us, or is it like, we're like leading, or are you leading?

- We'll follow you.

You lead, we'll follow you, and if there's any issues, we can just stop and fix, and no worries.

- Okay, 'cause like the, yeah.

My only concern is that the recording tempo might be different than what we play.

- Yeah, we'll go with what you have now, and we'll just, we'll roll.

- Okay, cool.

- [Shane] What was your initial reaction when you learned that you would be participating in the group sessions?

- Very excited.

Since I heard about this collaboration, I've wanted to be a part of it, and the band and I have wanted to be a part of it, and so, we're all very excited about it.

It's definitely, I think, one of the best shows of the year for us, maybe of all time.

I think that the songs add to the mythology that we tried to grasp at, and I think that since our music is inspired by Lake Superior, there's so many different moods, and colors, and depths of Lake Superior, and I think having the orchestra added to it really enhances all of that.

The song that I wrote for my mom, called "For Mother," I think really made me feel deeply, because my mom has passed, and I would've loved for her to be here to hear this performance, and to hear how that song has evolved over time, and with this addition is really amazing.

♪ Your voice is like an arrow ♪ ♪ And your laughter ♪ brings me to tears ♪ - Sorry, I gotta stop for one second.

Is there an extra six eight bar, right before verse three?

'Cause we had to hold longer.

- I think there is.

- Is there an ex, I think we need to add a six eighter.

Can we just try it from the chorus again?

Something just didn't add up, and that's an easy fix.

- [Laura] Sounding so cool, I'm just saying.

(all laughing) It's incredibly beautiful, and we're about to take it again.

- [Shane] What were you feeling when you heard the full ensemble for the first time?

- Mm, pure joy.

It truly was such a visceral experience that I cannot even put into words, but I know that I felt something I never felt before when collaborating with a group of really strong, powerful musicians.

The collaborative energy, and the synergy, and working through the challenges, and the difficulties, and celebrating the beauty that is created on the stage was totally surreal.

And hearing that music come to life in a totally different way was so inspiring, and it really brought out the imagery, and vision within our music, and elevated it to the next level.

♪ You ♪ ♪ Oh, please ♪ ♪ The light ♪ ♪ The spark ♪ ♪ I come alive in the dark ♪ ♪ The light, the spark ♪ ♪ And the light, the spark ♪ ♪ And the light, the spark ♪ ♪ I come alive ♪ ♪ I come alive ♪ (tender music) - Woo!

- So, Rachel?

Just, I'll watch you for the cutoff.

- Okay.

- Yeah.

- Cool.

- Oftentimes, you know, we have to think about what type of instruments on our side will pair well with the artists who we select on stage, so we work with an arranger, who they themselves are a composer.

And we have to listen to the voices of not only the singers, but also of the instruments that they play, listen to the music, and really try to adapt to it.

- I'm Wendy Durrwachter, I'm a composer.

I've lived in Duluth about 15 years, and this is the second year that the DSSO has asked me to be a part of the Bridge Sessions.

Last year, I arranged for Rachael Kilgour and Danny Frank.

On this one, I tried to be very true to what the song was asking for.

So, I try to really digest the structure of the song, the mood, and I let the song tell me what it needs.

So some of the songs, I hardly added much at all until the very end, and then other songs, I kept very minimal throughout, and other songs seemed to really be, well, for the sake of making a good concert, I had other songs where I added quite a bit, just to switch it up and add some variance to what was going on.

Have a repeat sign on there?

- Yeah, so let's repeat.

Let's try, let's see if this works.

For us, 117, put a repeat sign, 117 to 124.

- [Musician] Right, and then at 125 is when we're out, got it.

I did grab a percussion, 'cause I think it would be helpful for us too.

- Her man when she dies.

- Cool.

- Okay.

(gentle guitar music) ♪ She'll see her man ♪ ♪ When she dies ♪ (dramatic music) (dramatic music continues) Okay, yeah.

Got it, cool.

(orchestra warming up) (musicians chattering) ♪ Devoted, doo, doo, doo, doo ♪ Check.

Laura, I don't know.

♪ Devoted my life to ♪ the passing of time ♪ ♪ Walked all over the ♪ county to the misery line ♪ - Things and then- - One for you.

- [Erin] Thank you.

- [Chase] Find some tape at some point.

- And you want, I'm trying to remember 'cause I, oh, tail piece?

- [Chase] Wherever it feels stable.

(Erin chuckles) - Chase?

- Yeah.

- When you are able, can you mute me a second to fix my pickup?

- Yes.

- So, are there tunes that you wanna do at the top, or do you wanna just go from the top down, and run the show?

- [Laura] Only other one was "Leone," I think.

- Which one, I'm sorry.

- "Leone."

- Great, we can do it, yeah.

- [Laura] The ending.

(gentle guitar music) (gentle guitar music continues) ♪ Gold coins on his eyelids ♪ ♪ Satin shades ♪ through the glass ♪ ♪ Cold snow in the morning ♪ ♪ She'll marry him fast ♪ ♪ She's waiting for ♪ the train to arrive ♪ (violin tremolos) ♪ She will see her man ♪ ♪ When she dies ♪ (violin tremolos) ♪ Corvettes and tomatoes ♪ - Having done this last year, I was able to streamline my process better, so I now, my first task is to listen through the song, and just map out how many measures the intro is, figure out what meter it's in, figure out what key it's in, of course, and then I figure out how many measures are the intro.

And so, in my music software, I've learned it's fastest to just mark where the intro, first verse, chorus, is there a bridge?

It helped me map it out, and I do that before I start writing at all, so.

In our initial meeting with Heidi, and Erin, and a couple, Laura and Emma, we talked about instrumentation, and I did have other instruments that I could have chosen.

Wind instruments, I could've added brass.

Their music just didn't seem to call for that, so they recommend, they were really hoping for timpani, so I added timpani on several, and I think that was a good choice.

They also wanted harp, and then I suggested a lush string section.

(dramatic music) (dramatic music continues) - Yeah, that's nice.

- Feel okay?

- Yeah, that's nice.

- Worked great.

And we're gonna, but we're holding until she hits the last chord, and then I'll cut off.

- Yeah.

- You'll cut us off.

- But by that, let's be as soft as possible, but we'll hang, is, Laura?

Laura?

- Yes.

- Is that okay for us to hang over just slightly, after your last chord?

- Totally.

- Cool, okay.

- Yes.

- Awesome.

- [Erin] Anything else we wanna hit for anybody?

Ready to run it?

- Yes.

- And, when we did stuff last year, feel free if you wanna run, like we'll run everything, everything, so if you wanna run your first two, by all means, we're fine, and I think we have plenty of time to get through it all.

- Okay.

- All right.

One, two, three, four.

♪ Rest your weary head ♪ ♪ Soon we'll all be dead ♪ ♪ But I'll see you ♪ ♪ In the morning ♪ ♪ Forget the words we said ♪ ♪ And all things that are bad ♪ ♪ And I'll see you ♪ ♪ In the morning ♪ (dramatic music) (gentle guitar music) - [Erin] Totally my fault, we're gonna take the wrong time out.

- Yeah.

- Yeah, did we discuss yesterday, ending with- - [Erin] We won't slow down, that was totally my fault.

- Ending with just guitar?

- Yeah.

- [Erin] We had new parts that I forgot to cross off, so let's, if we can do just the ending ending, and it'll feel fine.

- Okay.

- That was on me.

- Okay.

- How does that relate to the band here?

We're not slowing down at the end, correct?

Taking that out.

We're taking out the slow roll at the end, and then it just goes to guitar?

What point should the band drop out?

- [Erin] We're gonna just literally play and then just stop.

- Yeah.

- [Erin] I just didn't, I was starting to slow things down just forgetting- - I was, too.

- [Erin] I shouldn't do that.

Can we start at the instrumental part at the end, 77?

- I had no idea I would ever be in a band after high school, and so, this opportunity has been so inspiring, and has reignited my love for classical music, and the depth of the percussion section is so exciting, and so I think that with the sounds that were created, Wendy and all the musicians understood our music in a deeper level, and really brought it to life in a whole new way, with the atmospheric elements, on the timpani, on that being the roaring thunder, the cadence of the waters of Lake Superior, you know?

There's a lot of that imagery that's used within our music, and to hear a sound that brings an image to life, so inspiring.

- And I just wanna say, big thank you to Superior Siren.

You guys sound fantastic.

It's been awesome, we can't wait for tomorrow.

(audience chattering) (audience applauding) (audience murmuring) (audience applauding) - Thank you.

Now we'd like to introduce our friends of the Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra.

(audience cheering) (audience applauding) And while they get set up, I'd like to express how grateful we are to be a part of this year's Bridge Sessions.

We make music that is alluring and dangerous, inspired by Lake Superior and siren mythology, and this collaboration has helped us dive deeper into our sound, and really helped us to celebrate our music.

(orchestra warming up) (no audio) (gentle guitar music) (gentle orchestral music) For the next full length Superior Siren album, I want to add more instruments, and so this is a great first experience with that.

And I think that when I write songs, I'll keep an ear for that, for all the different sounds that we might be able to add, and I think it will really bring us in a new direction.

I think this experience empowers us, and really helps us to see what we're capable of.

- [Shane] And what has been the most meaningful thing about your participation in this whole series?

- I think it's being here with my band mates.

We've been a band for about seven years, and we've gone through a lot together, and I think that we deserve this opportunity, and I think that we're in a good place too, musically, and it's really special to be here with them, working on this.

(gentle guitar music) ♪ Knock, knock, knock ♪ on your doorstep ♪ ♪ Who is it at your door ♪ ♪ Wake up to the sound of ♪ ♪ Calamity on the floor ♪ ♪ Where you are, did you ♪ go through the room ♪ ♪ Full of vastness and doom ♪ and the darkness of gloom ♪ ♪ Where are you, did you ♪ go through the tomb ♪ ♪ Full of all the existence ♪ and all the unknown ♪ ♪ Wake up from the nightmare ♪ ♪ Wake up, it's a nightmare ♪ ♪ Wake up from the nightmare ♪ ♪ Wake up ♪ - I think Duluth has always been a beautiful incubator.

It's where we create, it's how we get through the winters, and is so inspiring by the waters of Lake Superior, and we just celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Homegrown Music Festival, which featured over 100 bands on multiple different types of stages, and there's so much creativity that lives here, within our backyard.

So I really think it's people hearing about it, and coming to Duluth to check it out.

(Emma laughs) I think that's the unwritten story here, in so many ways, is we have something really special here.

And I know there's only many more musicians to come that will break from the local scene, and hit that national scale, and that is already happening, and it is so exciting.

- This next one I wrote for my mother.

She died in 2018, due to brain cancer, and I want to dedicate this song to all of those that we've lost, and that are with us in spirit tonight.

(tender guitar music) (tender orchestral music) (tender orchestral music continues) ♪ I called you ♪ ♪ Just to say hello ♪ ♪ I called you ♪ ♪ To see how it goes ♪ ♪ And the time has come ♪ ♪ When the brain ♪ breaches connection ♪ - Music is just music.

It is, regardless of what the background is, regardless of how you get there, great musicianship is great musicianship, regardless of what it looks like, regardless of genre.

So, for me, I think sometimes there's a perception with classical music, and I think seeing us just get down, and have fun, and everybody in the symphony, there's a lot of us that do a lot of crossover work that people don't realize, and I think breaking down that barrier, and that wall, and realizing oh, they're just, we're all the same.

We all just love making music, and sharing it with people, and doing it to the best of whatever our abilities are.

And I think that, for me, is why this is so important is to have those conversations, and those collaborations, where you put lots of different viewpoints, and bring 'em together, and create something really super special.

♪ Your voice is like an arrow ♪ ♪ And your laughter ♪ brings me to tears ♪ ♪ Your cheeks are ♪ warm and friendly ♪ ♪ And your eyes dart ♪ through my fears ♪ ♪ I called you ♪ ♪ Just to say hello ♪ ♪ I called you ♪ ♪ To see how it goes ♪ ♪ And whatever ♪ ♪ You see in the way ♪ ♪ It's not worth the time ♪ ♪ Oh such precious time ♪ is just passing by ♪ ♪ I called you ♪ ♪ Just to say hello ♪ ♪ I called you ♪ ♪ To tell you I love you ♪ (tender orchestral music continues) (tender orchestral music continues) (audience applauds) Thank you.

♪ Trying so hard to feel ♪ something, worth something ♪ ♪ To mean something ♪ ♪ Trying so hard to ♪ be something for you ♪ ♪ The idea of what it could be ♪ ♪ Is always better ♪ than it should be ♪ ♪ The idea of what it could be ♪ ♪ Is always better than it is ♪ (gentle music)