Whether it was cracking jokes, leading an orchestra, pounding drums or accepting a prestigious award from SMU, Steward Copeland — musician, composer and former drummer for The Police — brought an electric fusion of rock and orchestral music for an entertaining show at The Myerson Symphony Center on Tuesday night.
Copeland is best known for his work as a founding member of supergroup The Police, but since the band's original breakup in 1986, he has written more than 70 film scores, TV soundtracks and video game soundtracks plus works for ballet and opera. He also has won two more Grammy Awards to go with the five he collected with The Police. Now he can add the prestigious Meadows Award from SMU to his list of accolades.
Previous winners include playwright Arthur Miller, actress Angela Lansbury and musician Wynton Marsalis. His"Police Deranged with Orchestra" show had been on a hiatus but was brought out by Tom Keck, the director of the division of music at SMU and an avid Police fan. Copeland took the stage with the SMU Meadows Symphony Orchestra for the performance and did workshops with the SMU students as well as rehearsing this piece, which had been performed previously only by professional symphonies. Copeland is essentially an adult kid.
, aka Drewlio Photo, is a concert photographer and videographer in Dallas. He also hosts the Dallas Famous podcast on Deep Ellum Radio and enjoys early set times and well-lit clubs.