Star Trek fans across Ottawa gathered at the National Arts Centre earlier this week to reminisce about the voyages of the Starship Enterprise amidst the sounds of classical music.
Star Trek Ultimate Voyage is a live symphony orchestra concert tour that performs in over 100 cities across North America in celebration of the popular television and film franchise’s 50th anniversary.
The science fiction cult phenomenon began as a TV show featuring the adventures of Cpt. James T. Kirk – played by Canadian William Shatner – and the crew of the USS Enterprise on their five-year mission to explore new worlds, seek out new life, and to “boldly go where no man has gone before.”
As the series evolved and spawned 12 movies and eight spinoff series, many new characters and adventures would be introduced to entertain audiences for decades.
Audience members will have the opportunity to listen to popular musical pieces from Star Trek’s history, performed by a live symphony orchestra, while watching iconic footage from the TV show and films on a 12 metres wide screen.
Chris Gonsalves, an avid Star Trek fan from Kitchener, said that the symphonic celebration “is a very interesting re-imagination of a familiar intellectual property. I’m not sure anybody who does not have an established connection with the franchise would have any interest in the concert, since it’s a pretty niche community.”
The fusion of pop culture and high culture through symphony orchestras provides an opportunity for pop culture fanatics to celebrate their fandoms.
William Echard, a music professor at Carleton University, says fusing pop culture and classical music is not as original an idea as people may perceive it to be.
“I don’t think that this sort of blending is a new thing, and it generally just goes to show how fluid the underlying categories can be,” he says. “This is especially true of soundtrack music since right from the start it has drawn from both classical and popular styles and mixed them freely.”
Mike Beatty, a student at Carleton University and classical music fan, said, “I think taking something I enjoy in pop culture and mixing it with a more artistic classical element is a fantastic idea. Whether it is a pop culture video game, movie or TV show, portraying it in a different form is a positive thing if it has an audience.”
The Star Trek Ultimate Voyage symphonic concert is conducted by Justin Freer, written by Brady Beaubien and jointly produced between them. Freer and Beaubien are the founders of CineConcerts, which is the company responsible for bringing Start Trek Ultimate Voyage to life. CineConcerts is one of the leading producers of live music experiences and is known for its other symphonic productions of the 1970s mobster film epic The Godfather, the 1961 romantic comedy… Breakfast at Tiffany’s and the Christmas movie classic… It’s a Wonderful Life.