Darren Lorenzo

Darren Lorenzo is a vocalist booked as soloist with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra for a program called "Kings of Soul" and with the Kansas City Symphony for "Dancing in the Street: Music of Motown." These pop-orchestra concerts pair a singer with full orchestral backing on classic soul and Motown songs.

Both programs draw from the classic soul and Motown songbook, the kind of material built on tight vocal hooks, call and response phrasing, and horn-and-string arrangements designed to fill a concert hall. Listeners can expect a set list built around familiar hits, likely including songs originally made famous by singers like Marvin Gaye, Sam Cooke, or the Temptations, reimagined with a full symphony orchestra providing the string and brass parts that a touring soul revue would not usually carry. The orchestra typically supplies lush backing behind the vocal line, so the evening centers on a singer working an audience the way a soul frontman would, cueing the band, taking the room through ballads and up tempo numbers, and inviting singalong choruses on the best known tunes.