The ground shook in Savannah, Georgia on March 26, 2008.  The epicenter was the Trustees Theater, the location of  "An Evening with Stewart Copeland," a program that was part of the 2008 Savannah Music Festival. It featured the first U.S. performance in several years of orchestral pieces composed by Police drummer and founder Stewart Copeland, who was taking a brief break from the recent Police reunion tour to conduct and perform with a 16-piece orchestra. Several of the pieces had not been performed in the U.S until that evening and included a world premiere piece named after Copeland's youngest daughter, Celeste. The music was followed by a Q&A and a screening of Copeland's film Everyone Stares.

The musical portion of the evening took flight with the Wagner-influenced piece "Birds of Prey," which Copeland composed for the ballet Prey commissioned by Ballet Oklahoma. Its flight was aided by the mightily talented strings and horns sections that lifted the air in the Trustrees Theater and created a vacuum for Copeland to fill with his thunderous beats, like a Norse god electrifying the charge of the captivated audience. This Grammy-nominated piece was a a great choice to begin the show and set the mood for the rest of the evening.

The evening quickly swooned to the seductive sounds from "Stalin's Sultry Serenade." The original version, recorded with the Seattle Symphony, beckoned back to the halcyon days of black-and-white movies with lush film scores, including a sinister sound running just beneath the surface thanks to the strings. The Orchestralli-ized version was jazzier, making the sultry serenade funkier thanks to the clarinet, and the piano guided the serenade to its climax. Here Copeland pounded the skins harder, and the woodwinds echoed to prolong the climax. And just when the pieced seemed like it was about to end, Copeland threw in a cliffhanger that moved the piece further until its abrupt Vertigo-like ending.

Then the evening produced a trio of playfully lilting pieces named for Copeland's three daughters. The first of those performed that night was "Grace," named for Copeland's middle daughter. "Grace" starts with a playful dance around a familiar Mancini tune about a pink feline. The piece builds on the theme and plays with it as it becomes increasingly complex and the various instruments join in, and the piece trots off into another direction with a horse-like gait. Next was "Eve," Copeland's oldest daughter. It plays the audience with a merry-go-round-like entrance, which leaps to a gallop with the backing percussionists and wind instruments, lifting the cheerful sound even higher. Like "Grace," this piece develops its own unique gallop as it approaches the zenith.

Next was the most notable event of the evening: the world premiere of "Celeste," named for Copeland's youngest daughter. Copeland composed "Celeste" specifically for the Savannah Music Festival at the request of Associate Artistic Director and violinist extraordinaire Daniel Hope, who performed the piece with Copeland and world-class pianist Sebastian Knauer. "Celeste" began with a vaguely familiar yet freshly reworked theme from Rumble Fish, that unmistakable Copeland sound which has become a unifying theme among many of his works throughout the years. The piece quickly shifted themes to the violin-heavy material from Copeland's recent scoring work like Dead Like Me. Hope's performance lead the foray with an intense ferocity that speaks to the piece's strength. Even though the orchestra sat by for this piece, it was difficult not to notice their enthusiasm, as evidenced by many tapping feet and bobbing heads. By the end of "Celeste," the hairs on Hope's bow were frazzled from the intense workout. And the piano work by Knauer was not to be underestimated, as it was the glue that bound the percussion and violin and made their union in this piece feel natural.

The deluge of treats continued with the tightly structured "The Gene Pool," a piece commissioned by the four-piece percussion group Ensemble Bash. Of all the pieces performed that night that Copeland had previously released in recorded media, "The Gene Pool" is the one to actively seek out to hear in person. The recorded versions do not do justice to recreate the playfully polyrhythmic assault on the cilia by drums and percussion and the climactic gong.

The next selection for the evening was the jazzy "Our Mother Is Alive" from the Rumble Fish soundtrack, Copeland's first foray into film scoring. Its timeless qualities indicated early on that Copeland's composing talents were not merely a fluke. The placement of "Our Mother Is Alive" in the lineup was perfect as the tempo is a pleasant, gentle come-down after the powerful pieces that preceded it. Some of its standout elements included the caressing strings, reassuring brass and woodwinds, and cradling thunks of the electric bass produced under the masterful fingers of Joseph Patrick Moore. These factors, along with Copeland's controlled polyrhythms, gently carried the audience to its floating climax. This piece is just as beautiful on the thousandth listen as it is on the first.

Finally the musical program of the evening ended much like it began with a piece from the Prey ballet. This one was called "Baboon Tribe" and was a great denouement to the music of the evening, with its playful elements, sinister bits, sweeping horns, and uplifting strings and percussion.

Despite the jazzy feel contained in many of the tunes that Copeland performed in the Orchestralli-laden performance that night, he played with more passion than even his highly energized performances during the recent Police reunion tour. The relatively intimate setting fueled Copeland's playfully energetic performance, as he noted at one point before introducing "Celeste."

After the music portion of the program ceased, the entertainment continued with a lively question and answer session first between Copeland and Hope and later opened to the audience that covered a vast array of topics, including Copeland's opinions on the Police reunion. One striking highlight was Copeland's discussion about his current Police reunion experience, contrasting that with the performance of his solo compositions such as that which he presented that night. Copeland said performing with the Police was a thrill because the Police material had 25+ years of baggage which was amplified by the 80,000 people in the audience. This reflection back on the band was an incredible experience for the band. However, because the band has grown apart musically, the three would not be able to come together now like they did in the past, particularly since the stakes are higher. For Copeland writing and performing music is a voyage of discovery, and his current Orchestralli-related work provides more satisfaction than his Police work: when he performs before a smaller audience who may not be as familiar with his post-Police material, it becomes a kind of musical voyage of discovery for the audience in that respect. 

The evening closed with a showing of Everyone Stares, the documentary Copeland assembled from the numerous reels of film shot with the Super 8 camera that he had purchased as soon as the band had spare change. It's something to behold on the large screen where there are details that one might miss on the small screen.

Hopefully there will be more magical evenings with Stewart Copeland to come that will include great music and great conversation with this great communicator who is the true king of all media.