A string quartet stopped London commuter’s dead in their tracks yesterday morning as they performed a rendition of The Walking Dead’s iconic soundtrack. City workers and cyclists looked on in surprise as living dead members of leading chamber orchestra The Covent Garden Sinfonia performed at Piccadilly Circus and under the London Eye along the South Bank.
The Covent Garden Sinfonia orchestra was given a macabre makeover with a terrifying look inspired by the hit TV show ‘The Walking Dead’. The otherworldly buskers set out to shock passers-by and were rehearsing ahead of a full orchestra performance which took place last night at King’s Hall in London, to celebrate the final season of The Walking Dead arriving on Star on Disney+ from August 23rd.
We are lucky to attend the event to get to see them dressed in ripped and distressed traditional evening coat tails and ball gowns, the orchestra joined the ranks of the walking dead, as a team of specialist SFX artists spent 8 hours creating the look using state-of-the-art prosthetics. Violinist, pianists, cellists, and bassoonists played live to the opening theme tune, conducted by Artistic Director, Ben Palmer and struck the right chord in front of a star-studded audience, who got to see episode 1 of Series 11 before the rest of the world.
The Covent Garden Sinfonia are known for their live renditions of famous movie and TV soundtracks and have previously performed John Williams’s Oscar-winning score for the movie ‘E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial’ at a sold-out performance at the Royal Albert hall.
Artistic Director Ben Palmer said:
“Covent Garden Sinfonia and I have performed lots of music from film and television before, but this is certainly the first time we’ve done it dressed as Walkers. It’s one of our more unusual and exciting challenges yet. We’re great fans of Bear McCreary’s music for The Walking Dead, and we were very happy to have the opportunity to celebrate the launch of the show’s final season at Kings Place tonight.”
The Walking Dead inspired orchestra was met with a roaring applause as they closed the show with a haunting rendition of the famous scores from the show. Ahead of the screening, diehard fans had the opportunity to win tickets to the exclusive event. Those lucky enough to attend, showcased their love for the show by dressing in cosplay as their favourite characters.
Season 11 of The Walking Dead will be the grand finale of the terrifying TV series and airs on Star on Disney + from August 23 and fans have a chance to join celebrities, influencers and media at the special screening.
The previous ten seasons of The Walking Dead have been available to stream on Star on Disney+ since last month.