George Clinton performs during “Symphonic PFunk: Celebrating the Music of Parliament Funkadelic” with the Detroit Opera Orchestra at the Detroit Opera House, Jan. 31, 2026. Photo by David Rodriguez Muñoz, Detroit Free Press.
In Friday’s (1/30) Associated Press, Corey Williams writes, “ ‘I was strung out on Bach, and Beethoven was my thing. I dug jazz, I dug rock, anything with a swing’—or so goes Funkadelic’s 1978 groove ‘Cholly (Funk Getting Ready to Roll!).’ Now Parliament-Funkadelic is going orchestral. The Detroit Opera [Orchestra] will showcase some of funk maestro George Clinton ‘s and P-Funk’s greatest hits this weekend, performed by violins, cellos, horns and other instruments tuned more for arias or sonatas than for tunes like ‘Flash Light,’ ‘(Not Just) Knee Deep’ and ‘One Nation Under a Groove.’ Ray Chew, arranger and conductor of ‘Symphonic PFunk: Celebrating the Music of Parliament Funkadelic,’ believes Saturday’s show will be the first time an orchestra has performed the iconic group’s music. Chew, himself a musician, has performed and arranged music for some of the industry’s biggest names. He’s also a fan of the funk…. ‘I’ve been waiting on it to happen over the years,’ the 84-year-old [Clinton said]. ‘We knew we were going to be doing this one day.’… The [orchestra musicians] will play standard orchestral instruments, including a full string section and a harp, and saxophones. About a half-dozen musicians, including a keyboardist and guitarists, will join them on stage.”
