Cartoons come alive with the Queen’s Cartoonists
Sean Kotz
Communications Officer College of Visual and Performing Arts
On Tuesday, April 9, Radford University’s Performance Series will host one of the most unique and interesting acts to ever grace the Bondurant Auditorium stage.
The Queen’s Cartoonists, a group of good-natured musicians/jokesters, plan to make kids out of their audience members, no matter what their ages, with a unique combination of large-screen animation and live music.
It all started in 2014, when pianist and composer Joel Pierson decided he wanted to bring jazz and classical music to people in a way that was exciting, enjoyable and experiential. He formed the Queen’s Cartoonists (a play on the fact that they all resided in the Queens borough of New York City) and set about creating a live music experience to accompany cartoons.
“I was looking for a way to expose audiences to jazz and classical music without alienating the more traditional, older concert-going audience,” Pierson explained.
“One day, I noticed that there was some overlap between the Golden Age of Jazz and the Golden Age of Animation, and bam!”
The Golden Age of Animation is certainly represented in their shows. The Queen’s Cartoonists frequently feature some of the most recognizable cartoon characters in history, like Betty Boop and Popeye.
But they also bring in new animation, often seen for the first time by their audience. In fact, some of the selections come from around the world, reflecting the international composition of the band.
While the band calls Queens their collective home, drummer Rossen Nedelchev hails from Bulgaria, and woodwinds specialist Mark “Dingo” Phillips came from Australia.
Other rotating members of the band have homes in Japan, Finland, and Argentina. And Pierson has actually performed on all seven continents. That’s right. Including Antarctica.
With such a range of cartoons, there is variety in the music, requiring different strategies to match. Some of the music is a note-for-note reproduction of original cartoon scores, while other pieces are written specifically for newer animation.
Classical music is mixed in as well, especially songs people are familiar with that fit the action on the screen.
And considering that many people attribute their first experience with classical music to the likes of Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd, it makes perfect sense.
The Queen’s Cartoonists performing with a Warner Bros. classic. Photo credit: Mark Sheldon
“There’s a lot of music in our concerts,” Pierson said, “and it changes rapidly. Younger generations might not think they like jazz or classical music, but the combination of the animations and synchronicity of the experience is enjoyed by everyone.”
But how do they pull it off? How can the musicians, who are not even looking at the screen most of the time, synchronize their contributions to the action playing out behind them?
The key is a click track.
Pierson and Nedelchev have earpieces. They can keep perfect time with the music this way, and the rest of the band follows their lead.
But the music and cartoons are only part of the show.
The Queen’s Cartoonists also bring comedy into the mix, performing stage tricks and musical feats that can feel like a vaudeville act.
Pierson says that in addition to acting as musical director, he writes the jokes. And as they say in showbiz, the jokes are on the house.
“If you don’t like them,” Pierson adds, “complain to the drummer.”
The Queen’s Cartoonists get the antics started at 7:30 p.m. in the Bondurant Auditorium located in Preston Hall on Radford University’s main campus.
Tickets are $15 for general admission, $7.50 for children 12 and under and free with a Radford University ID. For more information, visit www.radford.edu/ups.