West Michigan Symphony opens 85th Anniversary Season with The Beatles, sort of
Muskegon, Michigan, September 5, 2024—Imagine The Beatles playing in concert with a
symphony orchestra. What would that have sounded like? Find out for yourself as Classical
Mystery Tour performs “A Tribute to The Beatles” live in concert with your West Michigan Symphony
at 7:30pm Friday, September 27 at the Frauenthal Center in downtown Muskegon. Tickets starting at
$28 are available at westmichigansymphony.org or in person at the Frauenthal Center box office
(hours vary.)
The four musicians in Classical Mystery Tour look and sound just like The Beatles, but Classical
Mystery Tour is more than just a rock concert. The full show presents more than 20 Beatles tunes
sung, played, and performed exactly as they were written. Hear “Penny Lane” with a live trumpet
section; experience the beauty of “Yesterday” with an acoustic guitar and string quartet; enjoy the
rock/classical blend on the hard-edged “I Am the Walrus.” From early Beatles music on through the
solo years, Classical Mystery Tour is the best of The Beatles like you’ve never heard them: totally live.
Classical Mystery Tour features Jim Owen (John Lennon) on rhythm guitar, piano, and vocals; Miles
Frizzell (Paul McCartney) on bass guitar, piano, and vocals; Glenn McCallum (George Harrison) on
lead guitar and vocals; and Chris McBurney (Ringo Starr) on drums and vocals.
“We really make an effort to sound exactly like the originals,” explains Owen, who admits that he and
the other three members are big Beatles fans. “The orchestra score is exact, right down to every note
and instrument that was on the original recording. On ‘Got to Get You Into My Life,’ we have two tenor
saxes and three trumpets. That’s what it was written for, and that’s what we use. And on ‘A Day in the
Life,’ can you imagine that big orchestra crescendo happening live?”
The Los Angeles Times called the show “more than just an incredible simulation…the swelling strings
and soaring French horn lines gave Saturday’s live performance a high goose-bump quotient…the
crowd stood and bellowed for more.”
“We have some real show-stopping numbers,” says Owen. “I wish I could actually be in the audience to
see and hear this show. The power of the emotional and nostalgic connection back to each of our
individual experiences with The Beatles is hard to put into words.”
An anchor cultural organization headquartered in Muskegon celebrating its 85th Anniversary Season
this year, West Michigan Symphony led by Music Director Scott Speck is a resident presenting group
at the Frauenthal Center, where its eight-concert season is the most visible part of a larger artistic
enterprise of far-reaching community benefit. WMS concerts and education events bring 16,500
people—more than 30% of whom are children and students—downtown annually, making it the
largest performing arts organization on the West Shore.
Free shuttle transport is available on concert nights to and from the Muskegon Farmer’s Market
parking lot right to the door of the Frauenthal. Immediately after the concert, patrons are invited to
the lower level Frau Lounge to mix and mingle. ###
