The Southern Sinfonia has taken up an idea - 20 years in the gestation - to take the music of bands including the Straitjacket Fits, The Clean, The Verlaines and The Chills, and ''revisit'' their songs.
That means in February next year soprano Anna Leese and other local singers will take on everything from The Clean's Tally Ho to Look Blue Go Purple's I Don't Want You Anyway, backed by a sinfonia beefed up by drums and bass.
Dunedin writer and former music shop proprietor Roy Colbert said he had first discussed the idea with Verlaines' frontman, now University of Otago music head of department, Dr Graeme Downes, in the early 1990s.
''I thought there were so many good writers in that Dunedin Sound. It's my feeling they haven't really got across to the general public.
''It's sort of a garage music, a cult music, so I thought let's present the songs to the general public in an accessible or different way.
''It still hasn't reached enough people for the quality of it.''
Mr Colbert said he had thought about past experiments, like the ''dreadful'' 1969 collaboration between Deep Purple and the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
However, Dr Downes ''strides across both genres''.
''Graeme's like a champion at both.
''That gave the concept the edge, I thought.''
Sinfonia general manager Philippa Harris said Dunedin Sound musicians Shayne Carter, Martin Phillipps, David Kilgour and Dr Downes would sing and perform backing vocals.
The sinfonia had applied to Creative NZ for funding and been turned down, but got funding on a second try.
''The sinfonia is always on the lookout for interesting projects which not only help it reach new audiences, but also involve different types of music, especially those that reflect the many, varied and extraordinary talents that have emanated from Dunedin.
''The Dunedin Sound, and the musicians that emanated from it, are exactly one of those,'' she said.
While many regular sinfonia-goers might never have been to a Dunedin Sound concert, Anna Leese and the musicians would present it in a way that would introduce that music to them.
''Dunedin's music community is so closely knit that many orchestral musicians also perform in local contemporary music groups, so the cross-over is already especially strong.''
Dr Downes said he had been ''working pretty frantically all year on the orchestrations''.
Apart from usual orchestral instruments, only drums and bass would be added on the night.
''The ones [songs] that have drums and bass need them, just for the propulsive, for the rock aspect of it.
''But the whole point of the concept was the songs would take to the orchestra really well, and they do.''
He said many of the songs were ''really symphonic anyway'', in the way that they were written.
''Sure enough, you recompose them for an orchestra, they sound like they were made to be there.''
Dr Downes said if the event went well, there was ''every possibility'' a concert could be repeated in 2017, with different songs.
