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The Roundtable

"The Hip-Hop Orchestra Experience" premieres on PBS All Arts

By Sarah LaDuke

Published March 18, 2025 at 11:20 AM EDT

Image of Ensemble Mik Nawooj performing with text indicating premiere of doc

The new concert documentary, “The Hip-Hop Orchestra Experience” showcases a 28-piece hip-hop orchestra led by JooWan Kim, a Korean-born composer blending the worlds of hip-hop and classical masters like Mozart, Beethoven, and Bach.

Through electrifying performances featuring four rappers, a soprano, a turf dancer, and a chamber orchestra, the film captures the visceral energy of the ensemble’s original compositions. Performance footage is Interwoven with interviews to create a film that reveals how this daring artistic experiment bridges cultural divides, sparks dialogue, and envisions a future where music unites even the most disparate voices.

“The Hip-Hop Orchestra Experience” will premiere on PBS All Arts tomorrow, March 19. It is directed by Josh Nesmith and he joins us now along with aforementioned composer JooWan Kim.

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The Roundtable hip-hop orchestra joowan kim ensemble mik nawooj classical music pbs documentary director composer music

Sarah LaDuke

Sarah has worked in public radio since 2006. She grew up in Saranac Lake, New York where she worked part-time at Pendragon Theatre all through high school and college. She graduated from UAlbany in 2006 with a BA in English and started at WAMC a few weeks later as a part-time board-op in the control room. Through a series of offered and seized opportunities she is now the Senior Contributing Producer of The Roundtable and Producer of The Book Show. During the main thrust of the Covid-19 pandemic shut-down, Sarah hosted a live Instagram interview program "A Face for Radio Video Series." On it, Sarah spoke with actors, musicians, comedians, and artists about the creative activities they were accomplishing and/or missing. She is on the board of WAM Theatre and lives in Albany, New York with her husband, Paul, and their dog, Doritos.

See stories by Sarah LaDuke

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