CELEBRATING STEVE REICH AT 90 to Open Soundstreams' 44th Season at Koerner Hall
Celebrating Steve Reich at 90 will include: Gary Kulesha, conductor; Jeffrey Stonehouse, Stephen Tam, flutes; Noa Sarid, Astrid Nakamura, violins and more.
Lawrence Cherney, Founding Artistic Director of Soundstreams, has revealed programming details for the first show of the company's 44th season: Celebrating Steve Reich at 90, a major celebration of the iconic composer, performed by some of the world's greatest interpreters of his music. The concert includes the North American premiere performance of Reich's 'In All Your Ways,' a new work co-commissioned by Soundstreams and leading music organisations from around the world. The concert also includes 'Music for 18 Musicians,' considered one of Reich's most iconic works. This one-night-only concert takes place on October 6 at Koerner Hall.
Celebrating Steve Reich at 90 will include: Gary Kulesha, conductor; Jeffrey Stonehouse, Stephen Tam, flutes; Noa Sarid, Astrid Nakamura, violins; Ronen Shifron, viola; Joanne Yesol Choi, cello; Gregory Oh, Stephanie Chua, Midori Koga, Wesley Shen, pianos; Xin Wang, Lindsay McIntyre, sopranos; Andrea Ludwig, mezzo-soprano; Russell Hartenberger, Bob Becker, Aiyun Huang, Ryan Scott, Michelle Colton, and Michael Murphy, percussion.
This year across Europe, the UK, North America, and Asia, leading ensembles, orchestras, presenters, and cultural institutions including Soundstreams will honour composer Reich's seven-decade career with performances spanning landmark early works to major late compositions.
At the centre of the celebrations is 'In All Your Ways,' an 18-minute work for large ensemble scored for Reich's signature ensemble of double flutes and clarinets, mallet percussion, two pianos, and string quartet. The new work receives its world premiere at the Edinburgh International Festival on August 28, launching an international tour with performances in Amsterdam's NTR ZaterdagMatinee series (Sept. 19), Carnegie Hall (Oct. 22), Cal Performances (Oct. 24), the Barbican Centre (Oct. 28), the Philharmonie de Paris (Nov. 15), and with the Los Angeles Philharmonic (March 7).
The year also marks the 50th anniversary of Reich's iconic 'Music for 18 Musicians,' with major anniversary performances and immersive presentations highlighting the groundbreaking work's enduring impact. Hartenberger and Becker premiered the work in 1976 as original members of the Steve Reich Ensemble.
The Soundstreams program also features a hybrid version of the legendary work 'Clapping Music' that features Reich himself performing the ostinato part, on film, with Hartenberger performing the other part live in the auditorium. An idea from filmmaker Atom Egoyan, Soundstreams took a small team to Los Angeles in 2023 to film Reich, subsequently negotiating worldwide performing rights to the film.
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