Contemporary percussion chamber group Sō Percussion leads a master class with students from the studio of Matthew Strauss
Free, general admission
Artists
For twenty years and counting, Sō Percussion has redefined chamber music for the 21st century through an “exhilarating blend of precision and anarchy, rigor and bedlam” (The New Yorker). They are celebrated by audiences and presenters for a dazzling range of work: for live performances in which “telepathic powers of communication” (The New York Times) bring to life the vibrant percussion repertoire; for an extravagant array of collaborations in classical music, pop, indie rock, contemporary dance, and theater; and for their work in education and community, creating opportunities and platforms for music and artists that explore the immense possibility of art in our time. Their commitment to the creation and amplification of new work, and their extraordinary powers of perception and communication have made them a trusted partner for composers, allowing the writing of music that expands the style and capacity of brilliant voices of our time. Sō’s collaborative composition partners include David Lang, Julia Wolfe, Nathalie Joachim, Dan Trueman, Kendall K. Williams, Angélica Negrón, Shodekeh Talifero, claire rousay, Leilehua Lanzilotti, Bora Yoon, Olivier Tarpaga, Bobby Previte, Matmos, and many others.
The 24/25 season hears Sō and Caroline Shaw (as well as Ringdown, Shaw’s duo) perform a program highlighting their newest album, Rectangles and Circumstance, at the Barbican in London, the BOZAR in Brussels, Saffron Hall in Essex, and at 92NY in New York City. The season also includes collaborations with composer Viet Cuong; solo shows at the Clark Art Institute in the Berkshires; performances with at PASIC, and much more!
Recent Sō highlights have included performances at Carnegie Hall, the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Big Ears, Cal Performances, at the Palau de la Musica Catalana in Barcelona, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Penn Live Arts in Philadelphia, the Hancher Auditorium at the University of Iowa, the Oklahoma Philharmonic (for David Lang’s man made, written for Sō, and featured in their latest recording with the Cincinnati Symphony and Louis Langrée), the Library of Congress, touring Benin and Burkina Faso with Olivier Tarpaga, and more.
Their latest album, Rectangles and Circumstance, with Caroline Shaw, was released earlier this year on Nonesuch Records, following thier debut co-written album with Shaw, Let the Soil Play its Simple Part. Other recent albums include A Record Of… on Brassland Music with Buke and Gase, and – on new imprint Sō Percussion Editions – an acclaimed version of Julius Eastman’s Stay On It, plus Darian Donovan Thomas’s Individuate. This adds to a catalog of more than twenty-five albums featuring landmark recordings of works by David Lang, Steve Reich, Steven Mackey, and many more.
The members of Sō Percussion are the Edward T. Cone Performers-in-Residence at Princeton University. Rooted in the belief that music is an elemental form of human communication, and galvanized by forces for social change, Sō enthusiastically pursues a range of social and community outreach through their nonprofit umbrella, including an ongoing partnership with Pan in Motion; the Sō Laboratories concert series; a studio residency program in Brooklyn; and the Sō Percussion Summer Institute, an intensive two-week chamber music seminar for percussionists and composers.
Sō Percussion is Jason Treuting, Adam Sliwinski, Josh Quillen, and Eric Cha-Beach.
