By Cathy Rose A. Garcia
Staff Reporter
Jon Lord, a legendary rocker from the seventies, will visit Korea to hold a concert at Sejong Centre on April 11. Accompanied by musical stars Steve Balsamo and Kasia Laska and the Seoul Art Orchestra, led by conductor Choi Sun-yong, Lord celebrates the 40th anniversary of his debut.
Lord will offer a unique combination of classical and rock music, playing pieces from ``Concerto for Group and Orchestra'' in the first half of the concert and wrapping up with representative songs from his Deep Purple era such as ``Pictures of Home,'' ``April'' and ``Child in Time.''
``Concerto for Group and Orchestra'' was a joint concert held at the Royal Albert Hall in 1969 between the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Deep Purple. The upcoming performance could be regarded as a sequel, as Lord continuously seeks ways to bring together classic music and rock.
He developed a fondness for classical music at age six when he learned to play the piano. He formed the band Deep Purple in 1968 after his meeting with guitarist Richie Blackmore and was also a keyboardist of the heavy metal band White Snake. Lord left Deep Purple after their 2002 concert and committed himself to songwriting.
Playing hit songs from the seventies, the concert will create a whiff of pleasant nostalgia for fans of oldies. The concert will be held at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts at 7:00p.m. on April 11. Tickets range from 44,000 won to 110,000 won and can be pre-purchased at Interpark, Ticket Link and Auction Ticket. For more information, call (02) 783-0114.
Korea Times intern Hwang Sung-hee contributed to this article. - ED