Karsten first connected with rock legend Mick Jones of Foreigner in March 2017. Shortly thereafter, he traveled to Lucerne Switzerland as Foreigner’s official documentarian and photographer. The band’s performance and recording venture in Lucerne were accompanied by a live 80-piece orchestra, marking a moment of high achievement for the band while kicking off the next phase in Foreigner’s evolution with their original orchestral masterpiece.
FOREIGNER kicked off their worldwide 40th Anniversary Tour with two very special sold-out shows featuring the 21st Century Symphony Orchestra at the iconic Culture and Congress Center in Lucerne, Switzerland (or KKL for Kultur und Kongresszentrum Luzern) this weekend. The concert hall is esteemed for its high-profile acoustics and charming setting, and provided the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for fans to experience Foreigner’s most popular hits interpreted by a full symphony orchestra.
The architect behind Foreigner’s extraordinary catalogue of smash hits, Mick has crafted some of rock music’s most enduring songs and produced 10 multi-platinum albums. Grammy and Golden Globe nominated songwriter, performer and producer and winner of the prestigious Ivor Novello songwriter award in Britain in 1998, Mick first began playing guitar in his early teens. "I knew early on that I could never hold a regular job. I had to play guitar. I had to somehow make my way into music" he says. SEE MORE
Answering an ad seeking a lead vocalist, Kelly joined Hurricane in 1985. Signed to Enigma/Capitol during the late eighties and early nineties, Hurricane recorded three critically acclaimed albums, racked up five Top 20 MTV videos and landed the top 35 single, "I’m On To You".After Hurricane disbanded, Hansen worked in a group with Poison guitarist C.C. DeVille, toured as a vocal group arranger and backing vocalist with Liane Foly for her album, Caméléon and composed music for television. SEE MORE
Though best known for his work as an original member of seminal 80’s rock band Dokken, Jeff has played bass and sung with a host of groups including rockers Dio and MSG, and his own bands War and Peace and Lynch/Pilson. Jeff also had a principal role, along with band mate Jason Bonham, in the 2001 Warner Brothers film Rock Star, alongside actors Mark Wahlberg and Jennifer Aniston. SEE MORE
A multi-instrumentalist, Tom plays rhythm guitar, keyboards, sax, and flute. It was the music of Blood Sweat and Tears and Chicago that truly fired his interest in the sound of horns. Equally influenced by progressive rock bands, it was the groundbreaking work of big band trumpet player, Maynard Ferguson, that changed his life. “When I started playing sax I tried to sound like him, learning to nail the high notes,” reveals Gimbel. “This was good training to play the solo on “Urgent” years later! SEE MORE
Michael Bluestein began piano studies at age 9. Growing up he was exposed to a wide range of artists including Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon, Boston, Mozart, The Who, and jazz pianist Thelonious Monk. After studying at Berklee College of Music, Michael made his way out to Los Angeles where he has played with Boz Scaggs, Stevie Nicks, Enrique Iglesias, Anastacia, and with the house band on Jimmy Kimmel Live.
Bruce Watson is a self-taught guitarist who beginning in the early 90’s found himself smack dab in the middle of the L.A. session scene. Over the next 20 years he had the honour and pleasure to work with artists like B.B King, Rod Stewart, Christina Aguilera, Elton John, Sara Bareilles and Gavin Degraw to name a few as well as hundreds of TV shows, films and commercials. “The range of musical styles I get to play doing that kind of work is really challenging and really fulfilling not to mention the opportunity to play with so many great musicians.” SEE MORE
Chris Frazier was born in Washington DC and lived in Massachusetts as a boy, and Wyoming as a young man, before moving to L.A. to pursue a career in music. He came from a musical family and began playing drums at the age of 5. Through his childhood and early adulthood, Chris played in school bands and various garage bands before moving to L.A. Over the years, he has recorded and performed with Steve Vai, Edgar Winter, Eddie Money, Whitesnake, Carole King, Tiffany, Eddie Van Halen, Ted Templeman and Gene Simmons, to name a few, before joining Foreigner. SEE MORE
