Stewart Copeland takes his ‘Ben-Hur’ work to the Valley Performing Arts Center

In 2009, Stewart Copeland, drummer for the Police and composer of scores for “Rumblefish,” “Wall Street” and TV’s “The Equalizer,” was commissioned to do a score for a live arena version (with a chariot race) of Civil War Gen. Lew Wallace’s 1880 novel, “Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ,” that toured Europe. After the tour, Copeland was commissioned by the Virginia Arts Festival to edit Fred Niblo’s 21/2-hour 1925 silent-film version and reassemble his score to create a concert with a live performance by an orchestra. You can experience Copeland’s lean 90-minute version of “Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ” on Wednesday at the Valley Performing Arts Center in Northridge, featuring the Pacific Symphony with Richard Kaufman conducting and Copeland on percussion.

“Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ,” Valley Performing Arts Center, 18111 Nordhoff St., Northridge, 8 p.m. Wednesday, $45-70, (818) 677-3000, www.valleyperformingartscenter.org also at the Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, Costa Mesa, March 18 and 19.

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