Sandbox Percussion Will Present Steve Reich 90th Birthday Celebration at The New School

The New School's College of Performing Arts has announced the eleventh annual Sandbox Percussion Summer Seminar, led by the university's Ensemble-in-Residence Sandbox Percussion. The program takes place June 9–15, 2026, with an opening concert on June 9 and a closing concert on June 15, both free and open to the public.

The intensive program celebrates luminary composer Steve Reich and the countless musicians and music he inspired, on the occasion of his 90th birthday year. Starting in the 1960s, Reich's landmark minimalist works helped shift the aesthetic center of musical composition, and he continues to influence younger generations of composers and mainstream musicians and artists all over the world. Many of Reich's mentees have ties to The New School's College of Performing Arts, including Nico Muhly, whose opera Dark Sisters was presented by Mannes Opera in 2023, and Timo Andres, who is on the faculty at Mannes School of Music. Of Reich's work, Muhly says: “This music is as part of my artistic ecosystem as air is to my respiratory system."

Summer Seminar participants will learn, rehearse, and perform alongside Sandbox through daily rehearsals, coachings, and workshops. The College of Performing Arts is thrilled to welcome Steve Reich for a special afternoon of conversation, reflecting on his music, career, and contributions to the percussion repertoire. Additional special guest composers include David Crowell, Joan Tower, and Gabriella Smith.

The seminar will culminate in a collaborative performance of Reich's complete Drumming on June 15, performed by all participants alongside Sandbox Percussion. Students will explore the fabric and intricacies of this music from the inside out and have the opportunity to engage directly with Reich during his visit.

In 1970, Steve Reich embarked on a trip to study music in Ghana with Gideon Alorwoyie. From this experience in Africa, Reich drew inspiration for his landmark piece Drumming, which he composed shortly after his return and which uses his signature technique of phasing. Composed for a nine-piece percussion ensemble with female voices and piccolo, Drumming marked the beginning of a new stage in his career. Around this time, he formed his ensemble, Steve Reich and Musicians, and increasingly concentrated on composition and performance with them. Writer K. Robert Schwarz described Drumming as "minimalism's first masterpiece."

Ian David Rosenbaum of Sandbox says, "Steve Reich's music has been part of the DNA of Sandbox Percussion since our inception. His Drumming was one of the very first pieces that we learned together, and his music has formed a key part of our repertoire in the years since. It's a pleasure to celebrate his many achievements and contributions to our contemporary music community at our Sandbox Percussion Seminar this year. We will feature several works by Steve throughout the week, including a seminar-wide performance of Drumming, and we are very excited to welcome him to The New School for a day of conversation and rehearsal. In addition, we're excited to feature many other composers—over the course of the week, we will examine the many ways that Steve's work has shaped the future of contemporary chamber music."

An Observation Pass will be offered for those who would like to join the seminar but need a more flexible schedule. Open to all ages and experience levels—from students and hobbyists to professionals—the Observation Pass allows participants to observe all performance classes, Sandbox Percussion masterclasses, and guest artist seminars. Observation Pass holders will also receive priority seating at the final concert.

Sandbox presents the Summer Seminar on the heels of a GRAMMY Award win for their 2025 album Don't Look Down, featuring music by Mannes faculty member Chris Cerrone. The album won Best Engineered Album, Classical at the 68th Annual GRAMMY Awards.

GRAMMY-nominated ensemble Sandbox Percussion brings out the best in composers through their unwavering dedication to artistry in contemporary chamber music. Sandbox Percussion captivates audiences with performances that are both visually and aurally stunning, solidifying them as leaders in the fields of contemporary music and percussion. Brought together by their love of chamber music and the simple joy of playing together, Jonathan Allen, Victor Caccese, Ian Rosenbaum, and Terry Sweeney engage a wider audience for classical music through multidisciplinary collaborations with today's leading artists.

Steve Reich has been called “the most original musical thinker of our time” (The New Yorker) and “among the great composers of the century” (The New York Times). Starting in the 1960s, his pieces It's Gonna Rain, Drumming, Music for 18 Musicians, Tehillim, Different Trains, and many others helped shift the aesthetic center of musical composition worldwide away from extreme complexity and towards rethinking pulsation and tonal attraction in new ways. He continues to influence younger generations of composers and mainstream musicians and artists all over the world.

Double Sextet won the Pulitzer Prize in 2009, and Different Trains, Music for 18 Musicians, and an album of his percussion works have all earned GRAMMY Awards. He received the Praemium Imperiale in Tokyo, the Polar Music Prize in Stockholm, the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale, the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge award in Madrid, the Debs Composer's Chair at Carnegie Hall, and the Gold Medal in Music from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He has been named Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in France and awarded honorary doctorates by the Royal College of Music in London, the Juilliard School in New York, and the Liszt Academy in Budapest, among others.

One of the most frequently choreographed composers, several noted choreographers have created dances to his music, including Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker, Jiří Kylián, Jerome Robbins, Justin Peck, Wayne McGregor, Benjamin Millepied, and Christopher Wheeldon.

Reich's documentary video opera works—The Cave and Three Tales, done in collaboration with video artist Beryl Korot—opened new directions for music theater and have been performed on four continents. His work Quartet, for percussionist Colin Currie, sold out two consecutive concerts at Queen Elizabeth Hall in London shortly after tens of thousands at the Glastonbury Festival heard Jonny Greenwood (of Radiohead) perform Electric Counterpoint, followed by the London Sinfonietta performing his Music for 18 Musicians.