The Hip-Hop Orchestra Experience Adds Anchorage Locals to Unique Performance

Oakland’s The Hip Hop Orchestra Experience (THHOE) kickstarts 2025 at the Arts in Bloom (Mar 1), FIM (Mar 7), and Eisemann Center for the Arts (Mar 14), Augusta University (Augusta, GA, Apr 1), and Discovery Theatre presented by Anchorage Concert Association (Anchorage, AK, Apr 19) with one-of-a-kind experiences that bridge genres and shatters boundaries.

In a show that seamlessly fuses hip-hop and classical, THHOE will offer up a compelling mix of music including works by Mozart, Bach and Beethoven deconstructed and reimagined with funky rhythms and rapid-fire rhymes.

This exciting concept is designed to push hard at the boundaries of both hip-hop and concert music creating something entirely new. The line-up puts the Bay Area underground hip-hop legends MC Unity Lewis, Red Bull’s Dance Your Style finalist Yung Phil, and local Eyak rappers Brother Buffalo on stage featuring a lineup of full strings, woodwinds, and more from local musicians coordinated by Alaska Youth Orchestras.

These performances celebrate the international release of THHOE’s award-winning documentary, Method Sampling: How to Build the Future Together on Voice of America; the largest and oldest of the U.S. international broadcasters serving 326 million audience per week worldwide. In addition, a new concert film, The Hip-Hop Orchestra Experience, was released on PBS ALL ARTS on March 19th.

The music for the show comes from THHOE’s albums Death Become Life & The Future of Hip-Hop which creates metamusic using Kim’s “Method Sampling” approach which involves borrowing from unrelated rationales (methods) and reframing them.

Three of the compositions — The Fountainheads Suite — deconstruct works by Mozart (Mozart on Joy), Beethoven (Beethoven on Struggle) and Bach (Bach on Transcendence). The suite was created as a direct response to COVID-19 and its disproportionate effects on marginalized communities. They were commissioned by the Yerba Buena Gardens festival in collaboration with the Asian Art Museum.

Immerse yourself in The Hip-Hop Orchestra Experience, April 19th in the Discovery Theatre. Presented by Anchorage Concert Association. Tickets available at the CenterTix box office (263-ARTS) and anchorageconcerts.org.

The Hip-Hop Orchestra Experience is supported by ConocoPhillips Alaska.