GRAMMY® Award-winning composer/arranger/producer Kitt Wakeley has released a new single and announced the release date for his star-studded orchestral rock album, Symphony of Sinners & Saints Vol. II The Storm. Wakeley is kicking off the run-up to the release of Symphony of Sinners & Saints Vol. II The Storm with a new single: a reimagining of the Led Zeppelin classic, “Stairway to Heaven,” featuring Orianthi (Alice Cooper, Richie Sambora, RSO), the London Symphony Orchestra, and London Voices. “Stairway to Heaven” is available for purchase beginning today (see HERE for links) and a visualizer can be viewed HERE.
Originally planned for an earlier release date, Wakeley rescheduled Symphony of Sinners & Saints Vol. II The Storm when he received the news that his most recent album, An Adoption Story, received a “Best Classical Compendium” GRAMMY Award® nomination. Wakeley won that GRAMMY on Feb. 5 (see HERE) and has now announced that Symphony of Sinners & Saints Vol. II The Storm will be released April 17.
Wakeley said, “I’m excited about building on the momentum of winning a Grammy by releasing an epic version of one of my favorite songs, featuring the amazingly talented Orianthi on guitar.”
Orianthi said, “It was so fun to work with Kitt on this legendary track. The orchestra arrangement is beautiful. It’s always a little scary territory covering such a great tune as a guitar player and being such a huge fan of Jimmy page. I just went into EastWest Studios and did my thing. I hope people enjoy it!”
Symphony of Sinners & Saints Vol. II The Storm is led by the Billboard chart-topping Wakeley on keyboards and features a stellar lineup including guitar legend Joe Satriani, (Alice Cooper, Richie Sambora, RSO), Nuno Bettencourt (Extreme), Nita Strauss (Demi Lovato, Alice Cooper), Kenny Aronoff (John Cougar, Joe Satriani), the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the London Voices choir (Paul McCartney, Luciano Pavarotti, the Hunger Games series), the Macedonian Symphony Orchestra, and the Macedonian Choir, the aforementioned Orianthi, London Symphony Orchestra, London Voices, and more.
Symphony of Sinners & Saints Vol. II The Storm was recorded at London’s Abbey Road Studios, FAME Studios in Macedonia, and L.A.’s EastWest Studios. The album was co-produced, engineered, and mixed by three-time Grammy Award winner Tre Nagella (Lady Gaga, Blake Shelton, Snoop Dogg) at Luminous Sound Studios in Dallas. Additional musicians featured on the album include guitarists Jay Gleason and João Miguel, drummer Brent Berry, bassist Ryan Miller, pianist Starr Parodi, and vocalist Marcelo Vieria.
Symphony of Sinners & Saints Vol. II The Storm Track List:
“Sacred” featuring Joe Satriani and Kenny Aronoff ~
“You Gave Me Wings” featuring Joe Satriani ^
“Amadeus” featuring Joe Satriani ^
“Paganini's Storm” featuring Nuno Bettencourt ~
“Requiem of the Fallen” featuring Nuno Bettencourt ^
“No Apologies” featuring Nuno Bettencourt ^
“MVP” featuring Nita Strauss and Kenny Aronoff * (click HERE for visualizer)
“Closure” featuring Nita Strauss and Kenny Aronoff *
“Stairway to Heaven” featuring Orianthi ~ (click HERE for visualizer)
“We Will Rock You” ~
~ with the London Symphony Orchestra and London Voices
^ with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and London Voices
* with the Macedonian Orchestra and Macedonian Choir
Wakeley’s previous orchestral rock release, Symphony of Sinners & Saints (Vol. 1), was recorded in October 2020 at Abbey Road Studios and released in May 2021 by Studio Seven Media. Symphony of Sinners & Saints (Vol. 1) debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's “Classical Albums” and “Classical Crossover Albums” charts. Symphony of Sinners and Saints also debuted on six more Billboard charts that week. Three of the album’s singles, “Conflicted,” “Sinners and Saints,” and “Forgive Me” all hit No. 1 on Billboard’s “Hard Rock Digital Song Sales” chart and top 20 positions on various other Billboard charts. With Wakeley on synths and piano, the album featured Satriani on two tracks as well as the talents of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Cliff Masterson (Little Mix, Kylie Minogue, Il Divo, Oasis), Grammy-nominated pianist Paul Loomis, guitarist Andy Timmons (Danger Danger, Pink), the London Voices choir, and more.
For more information, visit www.kittwakeley.com
