Leslie Odom Jr. Teases What to Expect From 3-Night Nashville Symphony Concert (Exclusive)

After a crushing 10 months of shutdowns due to the pandemic, live music is officially back, and Grammy and Tony Award-winning performer and Oscar-nominated actor Leslie Odom Jr. is heading back on the road for a three-night musical event in Nashville celebrating the joys of jazz and Broadway. Best known for the Broadway smash-hit Hamilton and Regina King’s One Night in Miami, the dynamic entertainer tells PopCulture.com he’s excited to perform some of the greatest songs ever sung at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center in Nashville, Tennessee.

“It’s a concert that first and foremost is designed to make sure people leave with a smile on their faces. But it’s a special thing because it would be cost-prohibitive for me to travel with an orchestra of my own,” he said. As an artist who adores orchestra music and likes the collaborative aspect, Odom says the night will be filled with music from the critically acclaimed Broadway favorite Hamilton, the catalog of Sam Cooke, and anything else he is known for, in addition to “some stuff that I hope to be known for someday.”

Between singing hits from Cab Calloway to Louis Armstrong, Odom says deciding on what classics to add to his night’s catalog was a lot about “trial and error” over the course of weeks. “Some of that is the stuff that we’ve learned works and satisfies over the years and really, I had a teacher tell me a long time ago that the best stuff to sing is the stuff you want to hear,” he said. “The evening is shaped by my taste for sure. The stuff that I’m inspired to sing.”

While singing the classics can come with pressure, Odom admits it’s all about trust. “Trusting that the way that it’s going to come through you is valid and unique just because it’s coming through a different channel, a different instrument and then I really do try to sing things that I have some sort of personal connection with because in an evening like this pretty singing, which is what I like to do when I can,” he said. “Pretty singing only goes so far, you know? People come, I think, in search of a little more than that. So a personal connection goes a long way — some way that the song touches or moves you, something about it that you find interesting or brings you joy.”

Odom, who has been on the road with symphonies and orchestras for the last six years, is incredibly proud of the show and thrilled for audiences and fans to share the three evenings with him, especially as he sings songs from Hamilton, where he played the role of Aaron Burr and wowed audiences with tracks like, “Dear Theodosia” and “Wait for It.” He says, “I just want people to have a good time and to get to be in the same room with them because a lot of people got introduced to the show on Disney+ and so that exchange that happens in a live performance, I didn’t get to have with them. I hope that people come out and we get to meet face to face.”

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Tickets to Leslie Odom Jr. with the Nashville Symphony are now on sale — get them here. Be there for his first-ever appearance at Schermerhorn Symphony Center as he sings favorite songs, including Hamilton favorites, classics from Rent, “Sunny Side of the Street,” “Autumn Leaves,” “You Send Me,” “Minnie the Moocher” and many more. For the latest on Leslie Odom Jr. and all things Nashville, Hamilton, and music, keep it locked to PopCulture.com for more.