Tonight, the Oakland East Bay Symphony will feature two musicians, Anthony De Ritis and DJ Spooky, who will jointly perform Beethoven's "Symphony # 7," Maurice Ravel's "Bolero" and the premier of De Ritis' "Devolution."

De Ritis wrote this piece, as well as two orchestral scores derived from Beethoven and Ravel. Paul Miller, aka DJ Spooky, will improvise and add his own twist to the music -- live on stage -- using his laptop computer, turntables and mixing board, according to De Ritis.

"All the moments affecting the universe affects the decision (Miller) makes," De Ritis said. "I represent an academically trained composer who understands that the influence DJs have had on our culture is very significant."

Miller's influences range from John Cage and Sun Ra to Grandmaster Flash, according to his Web site. He helped found the Illbient movement, a style that started in New York City and worked with music and sound from old LP's to create ambient sound, according to officials at Asphodel, his former record label.

In a 1999 interview with De Ritis, Miller said he likes to change music.

"I can only wonder what listeners of the future will think when they look back and realize we all used to listen to the same record the same way," Miller said.

Miller has remixed for Metallica, Nick Cave, Sublime and others. He grew up in Washington, D.C., where he listened to local hard-core punk, British ska punk and go-go music, according to a written statement.

De Ritis said the orchestra will include three drummers, which fade in and out the background beats.

"There's one single groove that's constantly changing over time," he said.

Anthony De Ritis is a professor at Northeastern University's department of music in Boston. He has conducted at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in New York City, as well as other sites. He received a Ph.D. in music composition at UC Berkeley.

Reach Bruce Gerstman at (510) 339-4506 or e-mail bgerstman@cctimes.com.