Detroit Opera orchestra to set George Clinton, Parliament-Funkadelic
hits to classical music
[January 30, 2026]
By COREY WILLIAMS
DETROIT (AP) — “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 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.
“The arrangements that I'm making are going to really be key to how we
bring it all together,” he said of Saturday's performance. “George's and
P-Funk's music is just waiting to explode through that orchestra.”
For Clinton, it was inevitable.
“I’ve been waiting on it to happen over the years,” the 84-year-old
founder and frontman told The Associated Press. “We knew we were going
to be doing this one day. We expected to gravitate into classical or
something.”
Creating the ‘Parliafunkadelicamentthang’
Clinton formed The Parliaments in Plainfield, New Jersey, in 1955. The
doo wop group's “(I Wanna) Testify” became a hit in 1967 for
Detroit-based Revilot Records.
Funkadelic was founded the following year after a naming rights issue
with Revilot, though Clinton later regained rights to The Parliaments
name.
Virtually the same stable of singers and musicians would record albums
and perform live under both monikers throughout the 1970s.
Where Parliament was the engine for funk — highlighted by stacked
harmonies and overlapping vocals — Funkadelic played the rawest of rock,
emphasizing electric and bass guitars, heavy drum beats and (often) NSFW
lyrics.
“It started out as a singing group, then a band and a group, and then it
became a ‘thang,’” Clinton said. “We call it Parliafunkadelicamentthang.”
Some of the era's top musicians, vocalists and songwriters carved out
roles in the “thang,” including keyboardist Bernie Worrell, guitarist
and lead singer Garry Shider and Walter “Junie” Morrison. All wrote and
arranged some of P-Funk’s greatest jams.
While setting the group's catalog to classical might seem unusual, Chew
says it's “just a different discipline,” adding that he believes some
P-Funk members would have excelled in the genre if they'd chosen that
route.
But can an orchestra play funk?
Rickey Vincent, professor of African American Studies and lecturer at
the University of California, Berkeley, says yes.
“Musicians are stumped by how seriously complex this funky music is,”
said Vincent, who authored “Funk: The Music, the People, and the Rhythm
of The One.” “You can take an orchestra and do all kinds of funky things
with it.”
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George Clinton performs during the 54th annual Songwriters Hall of
Fame induction and awards gala in New York on June 12, 2025. (Photo
by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP, File)
 “Audacity of sophistication, that’s
what funk plays with,” he added. “Junie Morrison … one of those
people like Bernie (Worrell) who could manipulate a string ensemble
for fun. They were top-shelf musicians who basically snuck that into
their arrangements.”
Legendary Motown musician and arranger Paul Riser says it’s about
integrating all the parts.
“You take what they’ve done,” Riser said of Parliament-Funkadelic.
“You don’t try to make it different. You just try to add to it. You
don’t try to make it your thing.”
Vincent pointed out that bagpipes and banjo were used on
Parliament’s 1970 debut album, “Osmium.”
“And they work with that stuff. It’s not just a gimmick,” Vincent
said. “Funk has always been about toying with institutions,
manipulating canon.”
Chew declined to say which P-Funk songs would be performed, but said
47 players have been assembled in the orchestra. They 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.
“The colors that are already in the music are going to be spoken
through violins and French horns and everything. We don’t even have
to invent new notes. All the notes are there,” he said.
Setting funk operas to dance music
Outside of the music, part of P-Funk's appeal occurred during packed
live concerts as singers and musicians — some taking on far-out
alter egos, like Star Child and Dr. Funkenstein — crowded the stage.
Clinton acknowledged that P-Funk's “Mothership Connection,”
“Funkentelechy Vs. The Placebo Syndrome” and other albums were part
of a “funk opera” where the mission was simply getting Sir Nose
D'Voidoffunk to dance. Sir Nose was the antagonist and embodiment of
everything “unfunky.” He vowed never to dance, but eventually
succumbed to the power of the funk.
The highlight of those sold-out shows was the “Mothership” — a
glittering prop space capsule — descending with lights flashing and
smoke billowing onto the stage as Clinton's P-Funk mob whipped the
crowd up with “swing down sweet chariot stop and let me ride.”
The original “Mothership” first was used during a 1976 concert in
New Orleans. A new version is under construction.
“We were trying to be the Beatles with the big extravagant
arrangements,” said Clinton, a big fan of the Fab Four’s “Sgt.
Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” concept album.
Looking ahead, Clinton said he's working on a couple of new albums.
The group has been on the road for the past three years and last
performed in Detroit about a year ago.
“To go back there now feels really good,” he said of the Motor City.
“I feel a future coming in the place where we have a helluva past.
That's where all the music was born.”
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