The Rock Orchestra By Candlelight at Murat Theatre

Seeing a group of musicians onstage donning skeleton costumes, make-up, and masks would make you think this is your typical rock concert. Look and think again! The musicians take their positions onstage with cellos, violins, and a brass and wind section.... It makes you wonder if you're still in the right show. Yes, you are at The Rock Orchestra By Candlelight, with a stage backdrop illuminated by a sea of a thousand candles and ravishing but dark energy surrounding the hall and setting the mood for an evening of a beguiling set of 90s minutes worth of rock and metal music with a mystical twist.

Rock music aficionados in Indiana will be having a headbangers' ball as The Rock Orchestra By Candlelight drops by the Murat Theatre on Tuesday 4th March 2025. Located at the premises of the Old National Centre in Indianapolis, Indiana, the Murat Theatre is the oldest existing stage in downtown Indianapolis. This theatre is the perfect setting for an orchestra that rocks!

“It’s a huge sound, it’s really powerful,” said Nathan Reed, creator of the show. “We are amping it up and we get these huge walls of sound which people don’t expect. If you think it’s going to be a clean, classical sound you’re in for a real surprise.”

The musicians of The Rock Orchestra By Candlelight is a 14-piece classical ensemble that has been exposed to the dynamics of pop-rock tours.

“The musicians are amazing,” said Nathan, “our cello players were with Elton John and Dua Lipa at the Brits; they have performed with bands like the Specials and were Abba’s official orchestra in Europe. It is a chamber orchestra and is an ideal size for touring.”

The moment they hit the stage, they unleash an intoxicating cocktail of sounds as they hit on the strains of iconic rock hits from Rage Against The Machine, My Chemical Romance, Guns N Roses, Evanescence, System of A Down, to name a few. Putting together a setlist from the vast rock and metal discography is one of the crucial parts of mounting the show.

“You realise how broad rock and metal genres are when you come to tackle putting a setlist together,” said Nathan. “There are multiple decades and multiple genres to traverse. We’ve tried to take cornerstone tracks and put them together in a way that flows nicely. We’ve waved our magic wand over them so all the tracks been specifically arranged to be cohesive.
“If you played the original songs together it might leave you scratching your head a little but when you hear them played by the orchestra it makes sense.
“You also realise how special some of those songs are. Stairway to Heaven played by an orchestra is mind blowing.”

At the end of the day, it's all worth it as fans leave nothing but massive raves like: “Perfect blend of classical bravado and hard rock!” or “It is a unique experience: the music, the show, the stage… something incredible”.

Multi-generations of rock fans are set to come together and revel in this grandiose movement where rock and classical music come into collision and explode with beauty and power. Don't miss it! Book your tickets to The Rock Orchestra By Candlelight, right here, right now!