Synth pioneer and singer-songwriter Thomas Dolby will return to the UK in 2027 to perform his new show Requiem for The 80s at The Barbican Centre in London on 13th July.
The world premiere performance of Requiem for The 80s follows this year’s success of Dolby’s Iconic 80’s Recollectionstour, which served as a work-in-progress preview of the symphonic concept he will now fully realise at The Barbican next summer.
Dolby said, “Requiem for The 80s is my musical memoir of a decade that, in reality, was nothing like the airbrushed stereotype of big hair, big snares and shoulder pads.
“If you lived through that decade, it was a darker time, so with a dash of humour, I’ve written a symphony that holds a mirror to the real 80s, weaving its defining moments with music from the iconic artists of the era, including The Smiths, Joy Division, Eurythmics, The Cure, Depeche Mode and many others.”
In addition to the orchestra, Dolby’s band will feature guitarist/arranger Andrew Lipke (Chicago Symphony Orchestra), guest instrumentalist Jakko Jakszyk (King Crimson), Mat Hector (Iggy Pop, Thom Yorke) on drums and, at long last, Ukrainian internet phenomenon Ana Pshokina on bass – who had to appear virtually during the preview shows after she was denied entry to the UK despite having a certificate of sponsorship for the tour. Trailblazing Brazilian conductor Alexandra Arrieche (Night of the Proms) will be on the podium.
Tickets for Thomas Dolby’s Requiem for The 80s go on sale at 10.00am on Friday 13th November, available from www.thomasdolby.com.
The world premiere performance of Requiem for The 80s at The Barbican will be followed by it US debut in Baltimore on 26th September, where Dolby will be backed by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.
Thomas Dolby came to prominence in the 1980s, releasing hit singles including ‘She Blinded Me with Science’ (1982) and ‘Hyperactive!’ (1984), before becoming an in-demand producer and session music, working the likes of Stevie Wonder, Joni Mitchell, Def Leppard, Foreigner, The Thompson Twins and Belinda Carlisle. Dolby also famously shared the stage with David Bowie at Live Aid and Roger Waters at The Wall in Berlin.
Amongst a plethora of achievements, Thomas Dolby has received four Grammy nominations, two each in 1984 and 1988, and was awarded the Roland Lifetime Achievement Award in February 2018.
In a career defined by both music and technology, in the 1990s Thomas Dolby founded Beatnik, the Silicon Valley software developer of the polyphonic ringtone engine that played back the Nokia tune. Its technology was embedded in more than three billion cell phones and devices made by Nokia, Microsoft (MSFT) and Motorola (MSI.)
From 2001 to 2012, Thomas Dolby served as TED’s Music Director, programming music for the TED stage, assembling a wide variety of house bands and collaborations to play between speakers.
Since 2014, Thomas Dolby has been on the faculty at the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, where he leads Peabody’s Music for New Media program, which enrolled its first students in 2018.
