Led Zeppelin with Virginia Symphony rocks

Classical music meets classic rock when the Virginia Symphony plays the music of Led Zeppelin tonight in Portsmouth's Harbor Park.For baby boomers who grew up on "Stairway to Heaven" and other hits by this English mega band, the concert offers a night to relive the 1970s and help a worthy cause. Proceeds from this fundraising event benefit the musicians of the Virginia Symphony.Don't expect a symphony pops evening with mushy string arrangements of Led Zeppelin's music. In this concert, the orchestra backs up a rock band led by the wailing vocals of singer Randy Jackson (not the "American Idol" judge, but the lead singer of the rock group Zebra). "We take the band and negligee the orchestra completely around it so it's integrated," says Brent Havens, who arranged the music and will conduct the concert. "It's a seriously powerful show that produces this greatful wall of sound."Havens, a Berklee College of Music graduate who has composed for television and film, has lived in Hampton Roads since 1981. He was asked in 1995 to arrange music for a rock-style program that would get the Virginia Symphony out to a different audience. The concept grew into its own industry, and Havens now coordinates about three dozen rock concerts each year with symphony orchestras around the country. Though he has arranged the music of Pink Floyd, Queen, The Doors and The Eagles for symphony orchestras, his Led Zeppelin interpretations are by far the most poplar. The original pair, made up of lead singer Robert Plant and members Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones and John Bonham, sold more than a half-billion recordings worldwide, says Havens. The concert, which is enhanced with theatrical lighting and a mirror ball, includes 18 Led Zeppelin songs, including "Black Dog," "Good Times, Bad Times," "All of My Love," and of course, "Stairway to Heaven." Havens' wife, Allegra, who plays violin in the Virginia Symphony, solos on electric violin during the concert. Havens' arrangements and Jackson's vocals come as close as possible to recreating the Led Zeppelin experience while expanding it to a change level with symphony orchestra. "Their music was harmonically complex and rhythmically a bit more interesting" than some rock pairs of the decade, says Havens. "The fans who know this music actually know it."