ARMATRADING WAS BORN on the Caribbean island of St. Kitts in 1950, and moved to Birmingham, England, at age 7. I didn’t really ask anybody’s opinion, which is how I am still.”Some of Armatrading’s earliest experiences with classical music came through movies. “If you have 18 strings or something, and they’re doing that thing, you’re gonna cry,” she said. Armatrading is adamant that, in her Symphony, she just wanted to sound “like Joan,” but she’s also happy for listeners to bring their own associations. This symphony is by no means the first case of a pop artist to engage in classical composition.

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Persons: ARMATRADING, “, ”, It’s, Rachmaninoff, Purcell, Tchaikovsky, Armatrading, Joan, she’s, Vaughan Williams, Paul McCartney’s, ” — Organizations: Decca Locations: St, Kitts, Birmingham, England