The 92nd Street Y to Present Sandbox Percussion With Conor Hanick

The 92nd Street Y, New York (92NY), one of New York’s leading cultural venues, presents Sandbox Percussion — Jonny Allen, Victor Caccese, Ian Rosenbaum, and Terry Sweeney, — with Conor Hanick, piano on Wednesday, January 31, 2024 at 7:30 pm at Buttenwieser Hall at The Arnhold Center. Online streaming is also available for 72 hours following the performance. Tickets start at $40 and are available at https://www.92ny.org/event/sandbox-percussion-with-conor-hanick.

A leader in a new era of contemporary percussion chamber music, Sandbox Percussion and brilliant pianist and new-music champion Conor Hanick bring a program of premieres, including the first New York City performances of two works composed for them. Christopher Cerrone’s Don’t Look Down, a 17-minute concerto for prepared piano and percussion quartet, was written during the pandemic and is the composer’s reflection on its effects. The work’s movements reflect on the world of the before, the uncertainty of the during, and the welcome noise of the now, employing sonic oddities from wine bottles to a bicycle pump.

The kinetic nature of Cerrone’s work is in stark contrast to the elegance of the new concerto by the dizzyingly talented Tyshawn Sorey. Interspersed among these works are the world premieres of an expanded version of Vivian Fung’s (Un)Wandering Souls, and Ellis Ludwig-Leone’s Lifeline – both percussion quartets. Samuel Carl Adams’ solo piano études and Andy Akiho’s percussion work Portal complete this remarkable 90-minute new music festival.

ARTISTS Sandbox Percussion Jonny Allen Victor Caccese Ian Rosenbaum Terry Sweeney Conor Hanick, piano PROGRAM Vivian Fung, (Un)Wandering Souls (World premiere) Ellis Ludwig-Leone, Lifeline (World premiere) Christopher Cerrone, Don’t Look Down (NYC premiere) Samuel Carl Adams, Études, Vol. 1 (NY premiere) Tyshawn Sorey, For Arthur Jafa (NY premiere) Andy Akiho, Portal (NY premiere) Join us in the hall’s lounge following the performance and meet the artists. The Buttenwieser Lounge bar is open before and following the concert, so you can enjoy a drink before the music or after.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS Described as "exhilarating" (The New York Times) and "utterly mesmerizing" (The Guardian), GRAMMY®-nominated ensemble Sandbox Percussion is dedicated to artistry in contemporary chamber music. The ensemble was brought together in 2011 by a love of chamber music and the simple joy of playing together; today, Sandbox Percussion captivates worldwide audiences with visually and aurally stunning performances. Sandbox Percussion's 2021 album Seven Pillars was nominated for two GRAMMY® awards — Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance and Best Contemporary Classical Composition. The ensemble performed the piece more than 15 times throughout the United States and Europe last season, including at the Théâtre du Châtelet, in Paris. In the 2023-24 season, Sandbox Percussion performs Seven Pillars at the VIVO Music Festival (Columbus, OH); the New School (New York); Aperio, Music of the Americas (Houston); the Frost School of Music (Miami); Brown University (Providence, RI); and the Peace Center (Greenville, SC), among other venues. This season, Sandbox Percussion also releases their fourth album, Wilderness, featuring the piece of the same name by experimental composer Jerome Begin. Other season highlights include two performances at the Park Avenue Armory (New York), featuring premieres by Chris Cerrone and Viet Cuong; a performance at the 92nd Street Y with pianist and new-music champion Conor Hanick featuring the New York premiere of two works composed for them by Christopher Cerrone and by Tyshawn Sorey; and an appearance at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Sandbox Percussion will also continue to champion Viet Cuong's acclaimed concerto for percussion quartet, Re(new)al, including performances with the Des Moines Symphony and with the Albany Symphony, which commissioned the piece. Besides maintaining an international performance schedule, Sandbox Percussion holds the position of ensemble-in-residence and percussion faculty at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and The New School's College of Performing Arts.

In 2016, Sandbox Percussion founded the Sandbox Percussion Seminar, introducing percussion students to the leading percussion chamber music of the day. Sandbox Percussion endorses Pearl/Adams musical instruments, Zildjian cymbals, Vic Firth sticks and mallets, Remo drumheads, and Black Swamp accessories. Pianist Conor Hanick is regarded as one of his generation's most inquisitive interpreters of music new and old whose "technical refinement, color, crispness and wondrous variety of articulation benefit works by any master" (The New York Times). Hanick has recently been presented by The Gilmore Festival, the New York Philharmonic, Caramoor, Cal Performances, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, and the Park Avenue Armory, and performed with the Seattle Symphony, Alabama Symphony, Orchestra Iowa, and the Boston Modern Orchestra Project.

A fierce advocate for the music of today, Hanick has premiered over 200 pieces and collaborated with composers ranging from Pierre Boulez, Kaija Saariaho, and Steve Reich, to the leading composers of his generation, including Nico Muhly, Caroline Shaw, Tyshawn Sorey, Matthew Aucoin, and Christopher Cerrone. In the 22-23 season, Hanick premieres a new piano concerto by composer Samuel Carl Adams with the San Francisco Symphony and conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen; appears with soprano Julia Bullock at the Aix-en-Provence Festival in Olivier Messiaen's Harawi; and performs recitals at the Library of Congress, Hancher Auditorium, Ensemble Music Society of Indianapolis, The 92nd Street Y, New York, and elsewhere.

With the American Modern Opera Company (AMOC), Hanick served as an artistic director of the Ojai Festival in 2022. He is the director of Solo Piano at the Music Academy of the West and serves on the faculty of the Peabody Institute and The Juilliard School. For more information, please visit 92NY.org/Concerts.

The 92nd Street Y, New York (92NY) is a world-class center for the arts and innovation, a convener of ideas, and an incubator for creativity. 92NY offers extensive classes, courses and events online including live concerts, talks and master classes; fitness classes for all ages; 250+ art classes, and parenting workshops for new moms and dads. The 92nd Street Y, New York is transforming the way people share ideas and translate them into action all over the world. All of 92NY's programming is built on a foundation of Jewish values, including the capacity of civil dialogue to change minds; the potential of education and the arts to change lives; and a commitment to welcoming and serving people of all ages, races, religions, and ethnicities.

For more information, visit www.92NY.org.

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