Based out of Waterville, Ohio, indie-folk band Oliver Hazard joins the Toledo Symphony (TSO) for an intimate one-night only performance on Friday, Oct. 27 led by Music Director Alain Trudel at the Valentine Theatre.
Oliver Hazard will perform works from their new self-titled album with music that is harmonic, haunting and at once ambitious and surprising. This is the first collaboration between Oliver Hazard and TSO.
VIP tickets are first come first serve and include:
- Front row seats (first three rows)
- Pre-show Meet & Greet with Oliver Hazard
- Photo Op with Oliver Hazard
- Autographed 11×17 poster
- 1 free drink ticket
About Oliver Hazard
Oliver Hazard got their start with the release of their debut album 34 N River in 2018. The music website The Fader called it a “folk-pop masterpiece.” Shortly thereafter, the band was booked at Bonnaroo and Mountain Jam. A year later, in 2019, the band released their 6 track EP The Flood, in which Billboard called it a “souvenir.”
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The sound of their upcoming LP, produced by Jacquire King (Modest Mouse, Of Monsters and Men, Kings of Leon), blends delicate arrangements with sturdy melodies. Like its predecessors, this 10-track set is the work of three individual singers, songwriters and multi-instrumentalists, who share an organic connection in the craft. The charm is that the songs never sound mannered or constructed; they simply are as natural as something played on a front porch or the side of a river, around a campfire after a strenuous canoe trip.
Collaboration with the Toledo Symphony
The inception for Oliver Hazard and TSO’s collaboration dates back to 2018 when Oliver Hazard’s Michael Belazis would reach out to TSO with the possibility of working together.
“It’s always been a dream of mine to do something like this. Some of my favorite albums are live records of artists accompanied with an orchestra,” Belazis said. Belazis also mentioned his grandmother was an influence for this, being a classically-trained pianist herself.
In 2022, TSO agreed to move forward with the collaboration. In preparation for this performance, Belazis said charting the Oliver Hazard songs with symphony accompaniment has been the biggest factor. Toledo Symphony bassist Bill McDevitt has been working closely with Oliver Hazard to orchestrate the album to suit the instrumentation and sounds of the Toledo Symphony while keeping the natural feel of the band’s original intent.
“We’ve been working closely particularly with Bill over the last several months with putting the arrangements together. He’ll send us demos and recordings of our songs that provide examples of where timpani would enter, or parts the strings and brass could play,” Belazis said.
When it came to finding the perfect venue for this performance, Oliver Hazard and TSO both mutually agreed on the Valentine Theatre.
“For both parties, deciding on the Valentine Theatre was pretty effortless,” Belazis said. “It’s always been a bucket list venue for us. There isn’t a bad seat in the house and while being the size it is, it can still feel intimate. That was important for us.”
Going into this performance, Belazis is pretty mind-blown the three-piece band will be onstage with almost fifty other musicians with the reputation they possess. “I always thought it would be a really cool goal for the band to step outside of our lane as a folk, indie band to collaborate with someone whose music is held in such high regard, ultimately bringing two very different worlds together,” Belazis said.
Friday, October 27. Doors at 8pm. Tickets starting at $39. 410 Adams St, Toledo, OH 43604. 419-246-8000.
https://www.artstoledo.com/events/2023/10/27/toledo-symphony/oliver-hazard-with-the-toledo-symphony/
