Sō Percussion

LIED CENTER PRESENTS

SĹŒ Percussion

Where expert musicians and experimental percussion meet

Thursday, October 18, 7:30 p.m.

Sponsored by

This event is sponsored, in part, by the Lied Performance Fund.

Today, we join musicians and audiences around the globe in Daniel Pearl World Music Days.

We are often surrounded with reminders of the things that divide us, but music, as the universal language, is a bridge that brings people of all backgrounds together, and today we celebrate that with our performance.

SŌ Percussion Pieces of Wood.........................................................................................Steve Reich Selections from Amid the Noise (Go, September, Fire Escapes, Life is (blank))................................... Jason Treuting Mallet Quartet.........................................................................................Steve Reich INTERMISSION (20 Minutes) Extremes............................................................................................... SŌ Percussion Double Music......................................................... Josh Quillen and Jason Treuting Child of Tree.............................................................................................. John Cage 3rd Construction........................................................................................ John Cage Program is subject to change.

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About Sō Percussion ERIC BEACH, JOSH QUILLEN, ADAM SLIWINSKI and JASON TREUTING Since 1999, Sō Percussion has been creating music that explores all the extremes of emotion and musical possibility. Called an “experimental powerhouse” by the Village Voice, “astonishing and entrancing” by Billboard Magazine, and “brilliant” by the New York Times; the Brooklyn-based quartet’s innovative work with today’s most exciting composers and their own original music has quickly helped them forge a unique and diverse career.

Excitement about composers like John Cage, Steve Reich and Iannis Xenakis — as well as the sheer fun of playing together — inspired the members of Sō to begin performing together while students at the Yale School of Music. A blind call to David Lang, Pulitzer Prize-winning composer and co-founder of New York’s Bang on a Can, yielded their first commissioned piece, The So-Called Laws of Nature. Sō’s recording of The So-Called Laws of Nature became the cornerstone of their self-titled debut album on Cantaloupe Music (the founders of Bang on a Can’s record label). In subsequent years, this relationship would blossom into a growing catalogue of exciting releases: Steve Reich’s masterpiece Drumming; Sō member Jason Treuting’s Amid the Noise; Treasure State, a collaboration with the electronic duo, Matmos; and Paul Lansky’s Threads.

Sō’s ongoing body of original work has resulted in exciting new projects, such as the site-specific Music for Trains in southern Vermont. It also includes Imaginary City, a fully-staged sonic meditation on urban soundscapes commissioned by the Brooklyn Academy of Music for the Next Wave Festival of 2009, in consortium with five other venues. Sō’s next theatrical project, Where (we) Live is slated to premiere in fall 2012.

Sō Percussion is increasingly involved in mentoring young artists. In 2011, its members became co-directors of the new percussion department at the Bard College-Conservatory of Music. This top-flight undergraduate program enrolls each student in a double-degree (bachelor of music and bachelor of arts) course in the Conservatory and Bard College, and exposes them to both traditional western conservatory training and a variety of world traditions. The summer of 2009 saw the creation of the annual Sō Percussion Summer Institute on the campus of Princeton University. The Institute is an intensive two-week chamber music seminar for college-aged percussionists featuring the four members of Sō as faculty in rehearsal, performance and discussion of contemporary music for students from around the world.

Sō Percussion has performed their unusual and exciting music all over the United States, with concerts at the Lincoln Center Festival, Carnegie Hall, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Stanford Lively Arts, the Cleveland Museum of Art and many other locations. In addition, recent tours to the United Kingdom, Russia, Australia, Italy, Germany, Spain and the Ukraine have brought them international acclaim.

With an audience comprised of “both kinds of blue hair... elderly matron here, arty punk there,” Boston Globe, Sō Percussion makes a rare and wonderful breed of music that both compels instantly and offers rewards for engaged listening.

Sō would like to thank Pearl/Adams Instruments, Zildjian cymbals, Vic Firth drumsticks, Remo drumheads, Black Swamp Accessories and Estey organs for their sponsorship. lied.ku.edu | LIED CENTER PRESENTS

ERIC BEACH

Eric Beach has been a member of Sō since 2007. He has performed at Carnegie Hall, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, The Lincoln Center Festival, Stanford Lively Arts and dozens of other venues in the United States. With Sō Percussion, he has toured Russia, Spain, Australia and other international destinations. He has worked closely with Steve Reich, Steve Mackey, Paul Lansky, David Lang, Matmos, Dan Deacon and many others.

In addition to his work with Sō Percussion, Beach is an active soloist, chamber musician and composer. Studying with Robert van Sice, he received his bachelor of music and graduate performance diploma at the Peabody Conservatory, where he won the Yale Gordon Concerto Competition. He also received a master of music degree at the Yale School of Music, received a Fulbright fellowship and pursued additional study with Bernhard Wulff in Freiburg, Germany. He has taught as adjunct professor of percussion at the University of Bridgeport and in the Hearing and Undergraduate Percussion programs at the Yale School of Music. Beach’s compositions for Sō Percussion are featured in Imaginary City, an evening-length work that appeared on the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s 2009 Next Wave Festival.

Beach is co-director and principal administrator of the Sō Percussion Summer Institute, an annual intensive course on the campus of Princeton University for collegeaged percussionists. He is also co-director of a new percussion program at the Bard College Conservatory of Music, where Sō Percussion is ensemble in residence.

JOSH QUILLEN

Josh Quillen has forged a unique identity in the contemporary music world as an all-around percussionist. He is an expert steel drum performer, lauded as “softly sophisticated” by the New York Times, and is a composer. His collaborations with other composers frequently incorporate the steel drums as a core element.

A member of the acclaimed ensemble Sō Percussion since 2006, Quillen has performed at Carnegie Hall, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, The Lincoln Center Festival, Stanford Lively Arts and dozens of other venues in the United States. He has also toured with Sō Percussion to Russia, Spain, Australia, ¯ PERCUSSION SO

Italy, Germany and Scotland. In addition, he has had the opportunity to work closely with Steve Reich, Steve Mackey, Paul Lansky, David Lang, Matmos, Dan Deacon and many others.

Quillen started performing on the steel drums at Dover High School in Ohio, an interest that continued at the University of Akron, where he worked with Dr. Larry Snider who founded one of the first collegiate steel bands in the United States. He traveled to Trinidad and Tobago in 2002, performing with Phase II Pan Groove ensemble under Len “Boogsie” Sharpe. This interest in the traditional steel drum music of Trinidad ran in parallel with Quillen’s education in western music, first at Akron, and then at the Yale School of Music with marimba soloist Robert van Sice. In 2006 he received a master’s degree from Yale.

These parallel interests led Quillen to break ground in the use of the steel drums in contemporary classical music. To date, he has commissioned over a dozen pieces for steel drums from composers such as Stuart Saunders Smith, Roger Zahab, Dan Trueman and Paul Lansky.

In 2010, Steven Mackey’s quartet It Is Time — commissioned for Sō Percussion

by Carnegie Hall and Chamber Music America — featured Quillen on a new microtonal lead pan in its Carnegie Hall premiere. This performance received rave reviews from the New York Times.

Quillen’s compositions for Sō Percussion are featured in Imaginary City, an evening-length work that appeared on the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s 2009 Next Wave Festival, as well as Music for Trains in Vermont. Other ensembles to play his pieces and arrangements include Matmos, PLork, The Janus Trio, Adele Meyers and Dancers, The University of Akron Steel Band and the New York University Steel Band.

An avid educator, Quillen is co-director of the Sō Percussion Summer Institute, an intensive workshop for college-aged percussionists on the campus of Princeton University. He is also co-director of a new percussion program at the Bard College Conservatory of Music, where Sō Percussion is ensemble in residence, and is the director of the New York University Steel Band.

ADAM SLIWINSKI

Adam Sliwinski has built a dynamic career of creative collaboration as percussionist, conductor and teacher. He specializes in bringing composers, performers and other artists together to create exciting new work.

A member of the ensemble Sō Percussion since 2002, Sliwinski has performed at Carnegie Hall, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, The Lincoln Center Festival, Stanford Lively Arts, and dozens of other venues in the United States. He has also toured with So Percussion to Russia, Spain, Australia, Italy, Germany and Scotland. He has had the opportunity to work closely with Steve Reich, Steve Mackey, Paul Lansky, David Lang, Matmos, Dan Deacon and many others.

Sliwinski’s solo marimba playing has been described by the Cleveland Plain Dealer as “beautifully delineated,” and by the Boston Globe as “expertly parsed.” He has appeared as soloist in many diverse venues, including the International Computer Music Conference, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston and at the Joyce Theater in New York for a two-week run of Eliot Feld’s Mandance.

He performs frequently with the International Contemporary Ensemble, founded by classmates from Oberlin.

In recent years, Sliwinski’s collaborations have grown to include conducting.

He has conducted six world premieres with the International Contemporary Ensemble and presented several more in the 2010-2011 season while in residency at Harvard University.

Sliwinski is one of only a few percussionists ever to complete the Yale School of Music’s Doctor of Musical Arts program, where his thesis engaged the percussion music of Iannis Xenakis. He also earned his masters at Yale with marimba soloist Robert van Sice, and his bachelors at The Oberlin Conservatory of Music with Michael Rosen.

Sliwinski is co-director of the Sō Percussion Summer Institute, an annual intensive course on the campus of Princeton University for college-aged percussionists.

He is also co-director of a new percussion program at the Bard College Conservatory of Music, where Sō Percussion is ensemble in residence. He has taught percussion both in masterclass and privately at more than 80 conservatories and universities in the USA and internationally.

JASON TREUTING

Jason Treuting has performed and recorded in venues as diverse as the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Walker Art Center, the Knitting Factory, the Andy Warhol Museum, Zankel Hall, Lincoln Center, DOM in Moscow and Le National in Montreal. As a member of Sō Percussion, he has collaborated with artists and composers including Steve Reich, David Lang, John Zorn, Dan Trueman, tabla master Zakir Hussain, the electronic music duo Matmos and choreographer Eliot Feld. In addition to his work with Sō, Jason performs improvised music with Simpl, a group with laptop artist/composer Cenk Ergun; Alligator Eats Fish with guitarist Grey McMurray; Little Farm, with guitarist/composer Steve Mackey; QQQ, a quartet consisting of hardinger fiddle, viola, guitar and drums; and Big Farm, a foursome led by Rinde Eckert and Steve Mackey.

Treuting also composes music. His many compositions for Sō Percussion include Sō’s third album Amid the Noise and contributions to Imaginary City, an evening-length work that appeared on the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s 2009 Next Wave Festival. Recent commissions for other ensembles have included Oblique Music for 4 plus (blank), a concerto for Sō Percussion and string orchestra for the League of Composers Orchestra; Circus of One, music for a video installation in collaboration with Alison Crocetta; and Diorama, an eveninglength collaboration with the French choreographers in Projet Situ.

Treuting is co-director of the Sō Percussion Summer Institute, an annual intensive course on the campus of Princeton University for college-aged percussionists. He is also codirector of a new percussion program at the Bard College Conservatory of Music, where Sō Percussion is ensemble in residence. He has taught percussion both in masterclass and privately at more than 80 conservatories and universities in the United States and abroad.

Treuting received his bachelors in music and the performer’s certificate at the Eastman School of Music where he studied percussion with John Beck and drum set and improvisation with Steve Gadd, Ralph Alessi and Michael Cain. He received his masters in music along with an artist diploma from Yale University where he studied percussion with Robert van Sice. Treuting has also traveled to Japan to study marimba with Keiko Abe and to Bali to study gamelan with Pac I Nyoman Suadin. lied.ku.edu | LIED CENTER PRESENTS

LIED CENTER PRESENTS Robert Belinic´

Charismatic classical guitar

SUNDAY, OCT. 21, 2:00 p.m.

Here to Stay: The Gershwin Experience

Celebrating George and Ira Gershwin SUNDAY, OCT. 28, 2:00 p.m.

An evening with QUIXOTIC

Fusing technology, live music, movement and expressive emotion FRIDAY, NOV. 9, 7:30 p.m.

¡SOFRITO! David Gonzalez with the Latin Legends Band A spirited blend of Latin music and stories SATURDAY, NOV. 10, 7:30 p.m.

Disney’s Beauty and the Beast

The smash-hit Broadway musical

WEDNESDAY, DEC. 12, 7:30 p.m.

PERFORMANCES Andrew Tyson

Robust romantic piano SUNDAY, JAN. 27, 2:00 p.m.

An Evening with Suzanne Vega and daughter Ruby Froom SATURDAY, FEB. 2, 7:30 p.m.

Guru of Chai, Indian Ink Theatre Co. A guru who will sell you a cup of tea

THURSDAY–SATURDAY, FEB. 7–9, 7:30 p.m.

The Pipes and Drums of the Black Watch and the Band of the Scots Guards FRIDAY, FEB. 15, 7:30 p.m.

it gets better

Featuring the Gay Men’s Chorus of LA in a performance that addresses bullying SATURDAY, FEB. 16, 7:30 p.m.

West Side Story

A timeless love story with Tony Award-winning choreography TUESDAY, FEB. 19, 7:30 p.m.

Russian National Orchestra

Daniil Trifonov, pianist Works by Tchaikovsky, Dvor˘ák and more THURSDAY, FEB. 21, 7:30 p.m.

Narek Arutyunian

Vibrant young clarinet SUNDAY, MARCH 3, 2:00 p.m.

MUMMENSCHANZ 40 Years

Legendary Swiss pantomime troupe FRIDAY, MARCH 8, 7:30 p.m.

Regina Carter, jazz violinist

Traditional African melodies re-imagined through jazz sensibilities FRIDAY, APRIL 5, 7:30 p.m.

Brentano String Quartet Fragments — Connecting Past and Present FRIDAY, APRIL 12, 7:30 p.m.

¯ ORDER: SO PERCUSSION TO 785-864-2787 | lied.ku.edu

LIED CENTER PRESENTS An Evening with QUIXOTIC Fusing technology, live music, movement and expressive emotion

November 9 7:30 p.m. “[QUIXOTIC is] a multimedia arts collective mixing violin-based pop, ballet, modern dance, Cirque du Soleil-like aerobatics, and a dazzling light show.”

— The Atlantic Review by Hampton Stevens, Kansas City writer

REGINA CARTER REVERSE THREAD

Traditional African melodies reimagined through jazz sensibilities

April 5 7:30 p.m.

“Carter set out to honor a traditional form of music by interpreting it through a contemporary lens, and her marriage of African and AfricanAmerican music birthed a record that feels like something quite new.

Perhaps that’s the best tribute of all.”

— Paste Magazine TO ORDER: 785-864-2787 | lied.ku.edu

Friends of the Lied 2012-13 UPDATE

This list includes individuals and businesses that have initiated or renewed their Friends of the Lied membership since the original list was published.

BUSINESS FRIENDS PATRON ($500+) The Janssen Clinic of Natural Medicine SPONSOR ($250+) Weaver’s

INDIVIDUAL FRIENDS BENEFACTOR ($1,000+) Karen & Keith Ely PATRON ($500+) Tyrone Duncan & Bozenna Pasik-Duncan CONTRIBUTOR ($100+) Cap & Kitty Gray John & Susan Gronbeck Tedesco Mark & Diana Hoppe Sandra & Allen Wiechert FRIENDS ($50+) Loraine H. Lindenbaum Adela Solis Helen & Tom Sullivan

YOU CAN SUPPORT THE LIED, TOO! For more information or to join the Friends of the Lied, please contact the Lied Center Director of Development, Megan Poindexter, at 785-864-2788 or meganp@ku.edu or go to lied.ku.edu/donate.

2012-13 FRIENDS OF THE LIED UPDATE