War and Peace

Danny; Moscow, 6/27/13

Yesterday was such and amazing day, packed with great music, friends and sights. We are eight hrs ahead of EST, so we are in the future, can't wait to tell you what happens, for now I'll just tell you what's been happening;)
We started our second day here in Russia at a rehearsal with the Moscow Symphony at what has been dubbed "Russian Hollywood". Built in 1927, this complex now houses ten independent studios, 13 sound stages and a new state of the art recording studio. This 13,000 square meter wonder has produced over 3,000 films and soundtracks including movies such as War and Peace.

My set up and the orchestra in one of Mosfilm's many sound stages.

Johnny and Maestro Andre checking a part.

The orchestra rehearsing a piece by
Aram Khachaturian a great Russian classical composer who also wrote for great films such a s Spartacus.

What a pleasure to be working with this great conductor and these fantastic musicians. It was the first time we got to hear any of the orchestral arrangements for our original songs. Getting to play and hear a song I co wrote with Johnny called Bound Together, with full orchestra was beyond cool;) Richard Maslove arranger. Denise Mei Yan Hoffman, a friend and composition student at Mannes, penned a great string arrangement for the song Georgia that we are performing.
Another great thrill was to play the original orchestral arrangement of Singing in the Rain.

The Moscow Radio Symphony had a rehearsal after us. Moscow has so many great orchestras and symphonies. The players were so welcoming and seemed to really enjoy playing the Jazz an Rock stuff with us. They were moving and dancing around when we played You Can Leave Your Hat on;)
Music, Art, Film and Dance have no borders. Their language is universal.
Here are some more images from Mosfilm;