Ep. 33: Dominic Ferris

*All Talking Classical podcasts formerly on SoundCloud redirected to Anchor.*  In this podcast, we'll be talking to pianist, singer, musical arranger, director and producer Dominic Ferris. Dominic's credits include producing for well-known singers such as Michael Ball, Alfie Boe and, currently, the final studio album of Dame Shirley Bassey. His collaborations with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra have sold over 3 million albums worldwide. He joined the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra as assistant musical director and pianist for the Elvis Presley: If I Can Dream UK arena tour, and the Memphis Symphony Orchestra for the USA anniversary tour, ending at Graceland with Priscilla Presley for the Elvis 40th Anniversary Celebrations. Dominic also tours around the world with his piano duo The Piano Brothers. He is one half of musical theatre double act Ferris & Milnes, who have become known for their medleys of Stephen Sondheim, George Gershwin and Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber. Dominic is a classically-trained musician, having studied piano performance, singing and conducting at the Royal College of Music in London. In this podcast, we'll be hearing about his varied background in the classical, pop and musical theatre genres. We also discuss the crossover market and the process that goes into producing and creating a crossover album. In particular, he talks about working with Michael Ball and Alfie Boe. Interestingly, Dominic says that crossover albums are among the last that people listen to in full. This leads to a really fascinating discussion about the creation of music releases in an age of streaming and the current pop music market. Having exposure to many different genres of music, it seems, can contribute to one's musicianship and musicality and this is certainly the case in Dominic's work. Finally, we talk about a poignant video project he helped to produce: a performance of "We'll Meet Again," the iconic wartime song made famous by Dame Vera Lynn. It was given by some of the top names in the West End and entertainment to boost morale for the UK theatre industry. Many thanks to Dominic for taking the time to talk especially for this podcast! Podcast released 16 July 2020; interview recorded 29 June 2020. https://dominicferris.com Dame Vera Lynn with West End Stars perform We'll Meet Again 2020: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTWy9jim7Mw Updated 14 August 2020 - Since this podcast was recorded, it has been announced that the current West End production of The Phantom of the Opera has closed until further notice due to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic.