Elton John Performs with USC’s Thornton School of Music and 2Cellos

Much of Elton John’s music, because of its compositional depth and piano-based complexity, is well-suited to symphonic and choral arrangements and it has likewise inspired such treatments over the years. His 1970 eponymous album is a particular benchmark in this context, as several of its songs (“Take Me to the Pilot,” “Sixty Years On,” “Border Song,” “The Greatest Discovery,” “The King Must Die”) have been performed by the likes of the Royal Academy of Music, the Julliard School of Music, and, most notably, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra during John’s historic 1986 tour of Australia (which was documented on a hit live album the following year, spawning a Top 10 single of “Candle in the Wind”). 

Such orchestral resonances surface throughout John’s current album, The Diving Board, particularly in songs like “The New Fever Waltz” and “Home Again.” John recently performed the latter along with students from USC’s Thornton School of Music and Croatian virtuosos 2Cellos.

Check out the just-released video of this rare performance: