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A synthesizer's approximation of an orchestral string section rings out of the speakers in Butch Baldassari's basement, but something is amiss. "That's too fast," he says. "Real violin players will never be able to go that fast."

Two weeks before the fall debut of Baldassari's Blue Moon Over Kentucky concerto, he was still tweaking his concerto built on the music of bluegrass founder Bill Monroe.

The debut of the five-movement work was attended by an estimated audience of 1,000 and featured Baldassari soloing on mandolin with the Owensboro (Kentucky) Symphony Orchestra which is just 30 miles northwest of Rosine where Monroe was born. The orchestral work chronicles and pays tribute to the life and music of Monroe and his Uncle Pendleton Vandiver.

Among those in attendance was Peter Mix of Rigel Instruments who termed the performance as "quite wonderful. My Last Days on Earth (the fourth movement) was utterly gorgeous and Butch's blonde Gilchrist is a gem. His unsigned Loar sounded marvelous, too, as always. If you have a chance to hear this collaboration, don't hesitate."

Baldassari's work is the latest in a building genre that seeks to find common ground between indigenous American music and the European classical tradition. Pioneered by American composers such as Aaron Copland, the genre has been explored in recent years by musicians including Mark O'Connor, Bela Fleck and Yo-Yo Ma.

Similarities between bluegrass and the orchestra's regular repertoire are easy to find, said conductor Nicholas Palmer. "One movement is a swing-style piece, which is similar to Glenn Miller and big band music that we do," Palmer said.

"The fiddle-tune movement is very similar for us to playing Irish fiddle music, which we do occasionally. Some of the more folk melodies are not unlike some types of classical music from the romantic period."

Baldassari says he is not trying to make a case for bluegrass as American classical music. "I'm not trying to say that at all," he said. "My point is to show the validity of Bill Monroe as a genuine American composer. I'm happy to play classical, bluegrass, whatever," he said. "I have a New Age record out right now. It's all just music."

Baldassari said the piece has been in development since 1999. Three noted Nashville arrangers Ñmulti-instrumentalist John Mock, conductor and arranger Don Hart and violinist Andrea Zonn Ñ contributed movements to it. "I had the melodies chosen and the sequencing of the music worked out. They (the arrangers) collaborated with me on the arrangements and scoring for the orchestra. They brought a combination of wonderful classical and traditional colors to the music and we worked together to honor the music in every way."

As the project was developed, Baldassari paid a call on Bill Monroe's son James to enlist his support for the concept. "I didn't want to do anything the Monroe family did not approve of," Baldassari said. "I explained the idea and walked James through the music I'd selected from his father's repertoire. He was enthusiastic about the project and the chance to hear Bill Monroe's music played in this new setting."

"I really like what Butch has done," James Monroe said. "It's really great. My father wrote a lot of wonderful music, and what Butch has done with it will take it to new audiences and help more people hear it."

Baldassari said he initially was approached about premiering the work in Owensboro by M. Wade Kelley, the symphony's executive director. Nicholas Palmer, conductor, then traveled to Nashville to examine the musical score.

"They were adventurous enough at the symphony to go with it," Baldassari said. "They are not afraid to throw a mandolin up in front of an orchestra and see what happens."

Palmer said the symphony also is interested in recording the new work. Because of the state's bluegrass heritage, Baldassari said that he would like to perform the new work across Kentucky.

"I want to play it as much as possible," he said. "It's all based on instrumental tunes Bill Monroe and his Uncle Pen wrote. We just orchestrated the themes. Kentucky, to me is the place to get the work going.

"I always thought Bill Monroe's tunes were already orchestrated in a folksy manner. I've always thought the genius and richness of these tunes would be a great foundation for an orchestral piece.

"Many of the melodic lines, licks and ornaments found in Monroe's music are similar to motifs in classical music. I've always wondered how this would be interpreted in an orchestral setting. It's certainly not rewritten bluegrass. We've tried to make it as original as possible."

He said choosing which Monroe tunes to orchestrate was a challenge. "Bill had so many great tunes . . . a vast catalogue of over 60 years. There's a lot of gold to mine there, so to speak."

Baldassari said he met Monroe at the Bell Cove Club outside Nashville in the early 1990s, when each played there on Wednesday nights. "Bill would have dinner while we played the first set, then he would play the second set," Baldassari said. "He was older, and he would kind of go in and out of remembering who you were and where he knew you from."

Monroe was legendarily stubborn about his own musical direction, playing hardcore bluegrass for decades when it was out of vogue. Baldassari ignored that aspect of the master with his concerto, which features five movements based on Monroe's melodies.

"I've been wondering whether he would like this, and I wish he could see it," Baldassari said. "But like most people at the top of their field, his mind was honestly open when it came to other musicians. ... It didn't matter who you were or what instrument you played. If you could play, he was into it.

"Bill wrote great music and it will stand the test of time. This is just one more way of getting it out there."

"It's an amazing legacy he's left us." Baldassari says. "Bill Monroe's music will be played and enjoyed by bluegrass musicians for generations to come. I think bluegrass fans and those who may be less familiar with his music will enjoy the orchestral interpretation of Monroe's genius."

Movement one, Ancient Tones, calls on Monroe's Scotch Bagpipe and references Uncle Pen's repertoire of nineteenth-century fiddle tunes as it sets the stage and tone for the remainder of the work. In this first movement, Baldassari envisions a dreamscape in which Monroe hears the music of the past (Jenny Lind) and begins to hear the sounds he will create in years to come. The solo mandolin introduces My Father's Footsteps, and the winds and strings pick up phrases from Goin' Up Caney and strains of The Dead March. As the movement ends, the musical influences are introduced as the past, present and future meld.

The second movement, which Baldassari calls Arnold Schultz' Blues, is named after one of Monroe's early influences, a Black guitar and fiddle player who infused his own music with the imprint of the Blues. This movement draws on Monroe's days playing with Schultz and explores the fusion of Blues and country sounds. Five keys are introduced in the movement's tunes: Watson Blues, Bluegrass Special, Honky Tonk Swing, Bluegrass Stomp and Bluegrass Part I. Monroe lived through the era of the "Big Bands" and was, undoubtedly, influenced by the tunes he heard them play. Baldassari improvised sections of the movement and uses a contemporary "Big Band" sound to underscore some of Monroe's more bluesy rhythms.

From Scotland to Rosine, the third movement, references Monroe's Scottish heritage and some of his most productive years. Listeners familiar with Monroe's music hear strains of Scotland (which starts the movement), Jerusalem Ridge and Cheyenne in this portion of the work. This hoedown-like movement features tumbling, rhythmic interplay between the string section and the mandolin.

Many believe the 1980s resulted in the creation of Bill Monroe's most sophisticated and intricate instrumental music. This waltz-like movement, which references this period of his life, is called My Last Days on Earth and features Baldassari playing a radically retuned mandolin (scordatura). According to Baldassari, this movement is an emotional interlude that hints at Monroe's mortality and foresees his immortality as a musician.

The bright, up-tempo fifth movement, Monroe's Hornpipes, brings past and future together in a no-holds-barred celebration of the music. Roanoke, Big Mon, and Monroe's Hornpipe are among the tunes included here. With the members of the orchestra romping toward the finish, Monroe's Rawhide, which Baldassari calls the "Mount Everest" of mandolin tunes, pushes the work toward its festive and joyous conclusion.

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