Legendary The Cure guitarist will perform in Boston Ballet's new "The Leisurely Installation of a New Window"

You may not expect to hear an electric guitar when you go to the ballet, but legendary rock guitarist Reeves Gabrels will be sitting in with the orchestra during an upcoming world premiere at Boston Ballet.

Gabrels played by David Bowie's side for 15 years and has spent the past 15 with The Cure.

"It's exciting and intimidating at the same time and terrifying and exhilarating to think about it," Gabrels said.

The Grammy-winning guitarist has played stages all around the world, but playing as one of nearly 5 dozen musicians in the orchestra is something unusual for him.

But he's looking forward to it.

"If you're not challenged by the thing you're doing, then you're the same old stuff," said Gabrels.

"He brings so much creativity and just a completely different set of sensibilities," explained Boston Ballet's music director Miscah Santora.

Santora composed the music for the new ballet, called "The Leisurely Installation of a New Window."

"I was looking for something very, very different that's contrasting with the orchestral sound and I thought, how about an electric guitar?"

After reaching out to Gabrels over social media, the collaboration began.

"It was probably about three months of bouncing things back and forth," says Reeves. "And he'd send me a file, and I would change things. And then he would incorporate like certain motifs into the piece."

Choreographer and former Boston Ballet Dancer My'Kal Stromile said Reeve's artistry "opens up a world of possibilities for the choreography."

He told WBZ-TV the music helped shape the movement. 

"When I heard part of the music, I went, what I've made is not actually really working. The dance and the music were no longer in conversation. So, I figured, oh, I can just adjust. And it actually sparked a new idea that I actually hadn't considered in this entire creative process. I want for music and the dance to always be in conversation with each other. And because we have this amazing guitarist, we wanna also play to his strengths."

Santora goes on to say, "He's adding this rock style to something that usually you don't hear with classical symphony orchestras. That's exactly the point of why we're doing this, kind of meshing these two different contrasting styles."

Reeves added, "I'm supporting the arts. I'm in the arts, and I'm getting to play guitar. What's not to like, from my point of view?"

You can see "The Dream," featuring the world premiere of The Leisurely Installation of a New Window at the Citizens Opera House in Boston March 19th through the 29th.