It was February 6th, 2011, and Stewart Copeland is on a flight back from Dallas where the previous night he has premiered his "Gamelan D’Drum for World Percussion and Orchestra" at the Dallas Symphony's Meyerson Hall. About the thirty-five minute three-act piece performed by the Symphony's world famous percussion quintet D'Drum with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Gregory Sullivan Isaacs of the Texas Journal wrote: "Copeland had a boffo success with his new piece... Copeland was given an ovation that Puccini wou ld have envied after the premiere of Butterfly. It's too bad there won't be another chance to hear it; the DSO wisely didn't schedule a concert on Super Bowl Sunday in North Texas. Consider this the Super Bowl of the classical world."
This came after completing a year whose prior quarter included November in London workshopping his second Edgar Allen Poe-inspired short opera: "The Tell-Tale Heart", for which he has written both music and libretto, and which premiered under the direction of Jonathan D. Moore at the world-famous Royal Opera House on April 8, 2011. A creative collaborator on his first Poe composition: "A Casque of Amontillado" as well as 'Horse Opera'--a piece composed directly for UK's Channel 4, Moore is one of contemporary Opera's brightest directing talents.
The world premiere of Mikrocosmos for Percussion, a number of percussion Quartets and Quintets took place at the Tromp Percussion Festival in Eindhoven, Holland, together with performances by Elbtonal Percussion, Ethel, Forro in the Dark, Beam, and Copeland himself in a stellar "Evening with Stewart Copeland." Following right after was the rollicking "Evening with Stewart Copeland" at the Grammy Museum at Nokia LIVE, in downtown Los Angeles, where the author, composer, performer, and filmmaker read an excerpt from "Strange Things Happen," his audio and written memoir of many tales from the road. Along with a hugely entertaining Q & A, he showed clips of footage that were not included in the 2007 documentary: "Beyond Therapy," (from the Police's "Certifiable" platinum CD/DVD release).
All this is a very substantial transition from the famed drummer's origins as a roadie then drummer for "Curved Air" an early 70's fusion rock band, and the early days of the pioneering punk rock trio The POLICE.