For the first decade of the Rock Era — from “Rock Around the Clock” to the mid-1960s — rock was rock and classical music was classical music, and to paraphrase Rudyard Kipling, it seemed for the most part that “never the twain would meet.” Yes, rock ’n’ roll pioneer Buddy Holly added a string section to some of his recordings, and so did the New York City record producers who created some of the great Top 40 hits of the early 1960s. The Beatles used a string section on “Yesterday” and “Eleanor Rigby,” but that was about as far as it went.

Then — the year was 1967 — adventurous audiences discovered the music of the Moody Blues’ experimental album, “Days of Future Passed,” recorded with the London Festival Orchestra (aka the “house orchestra” of Decca Records). With “Days of Future Passed” the distance between rock and “classical” began to narrow.

One of the biggest and seemingly most unlikely partnerships was Metallica partnering with the San Francisco Symphony in 1999; the “live” double-disc CD that came out of the two-nighter sold more than 8 million copies.

Jump ahead to recent times and a long list of pop and rock artists — from Captain & Tennille and Ben Vereen to Dave Koz and Al Jarreau — have performed in partnership with our symphony orchestras.

The Hawai‘i Symphony Orchestra continues the partnership between rock and classical music this weekend, celebrating the legacy of Queen. It presents Windborne Music’s tribute show “The Music of Queen” today in the Blaisdell Concert Hall.

Windborne Music’s Brent Havens will conduct the Hawai‘i Symphony Orchestra while Brody Dolyniuk sings the part of Freddie Mercury. Daniel Clemens, George Cintron, Bart Keubler and Powell Randolph stand in for the other members of Queen.

Dolyniuk was with the show in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, last week, and corresponded with the Honolulu Star-Advertiser by email. He and Havens and the band were there for a three-nighter playing the music of U2 with the Malaysian Philharmonic.

Describing the Queen performance, he said, “It’s part rock concert, part classical, and so there are moments when it will be a rock band with support from the orchestra, and then vice versa.”

The show is focused on Queen’s music, and Windborne does not attempt to re-create or impersonate the original band, Dolyniuk explained: “I’m not trying to look or act like these famous frontmen, but my voice is somewhat similar or flexible enough to approximate or sing in the vein of each of them without it coming off schlocky.”

Dolyniuk credits Haven with making the potentially difficult selections from Queen’s extensive catalog. There are five or six obvious choices — “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “We Are the Champions” and “We Will Rock You,” to name three. But when an arranger/conductor has, say, two hours to work with, and a potential set list of 17 or 18 songs to assemble, selecting another, say, 15, out of everything that Queen recorded is a task not for the faint of heart.

“With so many great songs from their catalog, it’s hard to not leave out a song or two that diehard fans want to hear, but we do try to cover all the bases with the hits and then sprinkle in a few lesser known songs that work well with the orchestra,” Dolyniuk said.

“The songs have to have something musically for the orchestra to play to, so that often guides the selection process.”

If time weren’t an issue, Dolyniuk said he would add a dozen more. “Love of My Life” is a personal favorite he’d like to bring into the show.

One of the highlights today will be “Who Wants to Live Forever,” a hit off Queen’s 1986 album “A Sound of Magic.”

“The orchestra really shines on this,” he said. “It starts off with just them and me and then builds to a big crescendo with full power.”

Dolyniuk hopes the show will encourage people on both sides of the cultural line to learn more about the other.

“This is an excellent intro for both Queen fans and classical music lovers to experience something different,” he said. “I always say it’s two groups of people who come together as one by the show’s end. If you’ve never been to see an orchestra, now is the time to stop putting that off. I think if you see this once, you’ll be back again.”