Feb. 26, 2015 at 7:30pm at the Rudder Auditorium.
For over a decade, So Percussion has redefined the modern percussion ensemble as a flexible, omnivorous entity, pushing its voice to the forefront of American musical culture. The group currently accounts for sixteen albums, a versatile array of collaborative projects, international appearances at prominent new music festivals, countless national tours, several compelling educational programs, numerous commissions, and a steady production of original works. Praised by the New Yorker for their “exhilarating blend of precision and anarchy, rigor and bedlam,” So Percussion has performed repeatedly in some of the most relevant venues in the US including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Stanford Lively Arts, the Texas Performing Arts Center and many others. In addition, a recent residency at London’s Barbican Centre, as well as tours to Western Europe, South America, Russia, and Australia has brought them international acclaim. Active advocators of new music, So Percussion commissioned some of the most prominent American composers of our time, including Steve Reich, David Lang, Steve Mackey, Paul Lansky, and Martin Bresnick among others. Since 2006, members of So Percussion have been composing original works for the group and for external commissions stretching the percussion ensemble to its limits. Inspired by the musical spirit of Cage and several collaborative projects, So Percussion integrates electronics, ambient noise, and everyday objects as instruments in their outputs and programs. In 2011, So Percussion was appointed an Edward T. Cone Ensemble-in-Residence at Princeton University where they currently collaborate with Dan Trueman and conduct an intensive two-week chamber music Summer Institute.
In their Spring 2015 residency at Texas A&M, So Percussion will engage in a practice-based project exploring technologically mediated composition through direct collaboration with Princeton University composer, Dan Trueman, TAMU Laptet (a student laptop ensemble) and music major students. Specifically, this encounter will encourage a practice-based research founded on inquiries about authenticity of original versus re-elaborated works, human interpretation amidst computerized media, live versus mediated performance, the very nature of music, technology-based communication, new ways of structuring sounds, and reconciliation of tradition, invention, and progress.
