German violonist's new album interprets pop hits from Swift, Rihanna
Taylor Swift meets violin virtuoso David Garrett.
The German violinist is shaking up the music scene with his latest project - reimagining contemporary pop songs from the last two decades into captivating symphonic arrangements.
Set to include tracks from Taylor Swift, Rihanna, Ed Sheeran, The Weeknd, and David Guetta, Garrett's new album "Millennium Symphony" promises a fresh take on contemporary hits, as announced in Cologne on Monday.
The album will also feature tracks from German rock musician Udo Lindenberg and German rapper Apache 207.
Garrett told dpa that the songs are fresh and young, but at the same time already classics. "I tried to arrange them in a fresh, modern way with the orchestra."
His goal was to create something that had "never been done before" in instrumental crossover. A world tour of 65 concerts in 20 countries has also been announced and is slated to kick off in Munich on March 20, 2025.
"I've taken a lot of risks. But you can't create anything new without risk," Garrett said in Cologne about the project. "It was important to me that the album was really a new start, a fresh beginning."
He said he asked himself how a song by The Weeknd could work on a violin. "You have to create a completely different approach," he explained.
Born in Aachen in western Germany, Garrett is now based in New York. The 43-year-old, whose fusion of styles has become his trademark, has been playing in front of large audiences for years.
"I would never think of creating something that I don't listen to privately or that I don't think is great. That would be somehow alien to me," said Garrett.
