On Friday, February 12 at 9:00 p.m. in Zankel Hall, Carnegie Hall presents the innovative ensemble S? Percussion in a program of new collaborative works by composers Glenn Kotche, Steven Mackey, and Shara Worden. With Glenn Kotche, percussionist for the Chicago-based rock band Wilco, S? performs the world premiere of Kotche's Migrations as well as his Drumkit Quartets, a work in the ensemble's repertoire since 2011, set to be released by Cantaloupe Records on February 27. Vocalist/composer Shara Worden is featured in her recent work written with S? Percussion, Timeline, heard here in its New York premiere. S? and Worden will also perform the New York premiere of Steven Mackey's Before It Is Time.
Kotche's Migrations, Worden and S?'s Timeline, and Mackey's Before It Is Time were all commissioned by
Carnegie Hall for its 125 Commissions Project, in celebration of
Carnegie Hall's current 125th anniversary through the commissioning of at least 125 new works to be premiered over the next five seasons. A pre-concert talk starts at 8:00 p.m. in Zankel Hall. Members of S? Percussion, Kotche, Worden, and Mackey will join in conversation with Jeremy Geffen, Director of Artistic Planning at
Carnegie Hall. The concert is part of Late Nights at Zankel Hall, in which the first 200 concertgoers will receive a free drink on
Carnegie Hall.
About the Artists
With its innovative multi-genre original productions, sensational interpretations of modern classics, and "exhilarating blend of precision and anarchy, rigor and bedlam," (The New Yorker), S? Percussion has redefined the scope of the modern percussion ensemble. Their repertoire ranges from "classics" of the 20th century by
John Cage, Steve Reich, and Iannis Xenakis, among others, to commissioning and advocating works by contemporary composers such as
David Lang,
Steve Mackey, and Paul Lansky, to distinctively modern collaborations with artists who work outside the classical concert hall, including vocalist Shara Worden, electronic duo Matmos, the groundbreaking Dan Deacon, legendary drummer
Bobby Previte, jam band kings Medeski, Martin, and Wood, Wilco's Glenn Kotche, choreographer Shen Wei, and composer and leader of The National, Bryce Dessner, among many others.
S? Percussion also composes and performs their own works, ranging from standard concert pieces to immersive multi-genre programs-including Imaginary City, Where (we) Live, and the newest endeavor, A Gun Show. In these concert-length programs, S? Percussion employs a distinctively 21st century synthesis of original music, artistic collaboration, theatrical production values and visual art, into a powerful exploration of their own unique and personal creative experience.
Recent highlights include performances of
David Lang's percussion concerto, man made, with Gustavo Dudamel for the opening of the LA Phil season; Bryce Dessner's Music for Wood and Strings at the Barbican in London and at Bonnaroo Music and Art Festival; a collaborative album with
Bobby Previte and the Dessner work in a Billboard-charting disc; an original score for a live performance and broadcast of WNYC's Radiolab with Jud Abumrad and Robert Krulwich at BAM; and much more.
S? Percussion is the Edward T. Cone Ensemble-in-Residence at Princeton University, and its members are Co-Directors of the percussion department at the Bard College Conservatory of Music. They run the annual S? Percussion Summer Institute (S?SI), providing college-age composers and percussionists an immersive exposure to collaboration and project development.
S? Percussion enthusiastically pursues a growing range of social and community outreach. Examples include their Brooklyn Bound presentations of younger composers; commitments to purchasing offsets to compensate for carbon-heavy activities such as touring travel; and at S?SI 2015, leading their students in packing 25,400 meals for the Crisis Center of Mercer County through the organization EndHungerNE.
Chicago-based percussionist and composer Glenn Kotche has been called one of the most exciting, creative, and promising composers and performers in modern music, receiving international attention for his "unfailing taste, technique, and discipline" (Chicago Tribune). He has released four solo albums and multiple recorded collaborations, including his latest with John Luther Adams, Illmaq (Cantaloupe Music, 2015).
Kotche has been commissioned by renowned ensembles and individuals including Kronos Quartet, The Silk Road Ensemble, Bang on a Can All-Stars, eighth blackbird, S? Percussion, Brooklyn Rider, Maya Beiser, Third Coast Percussion, Victoire, Jeffrey Zeigler, and Roomful of Teeth. In addition to his work as a composer and percussionist, Kotche has played on over 90 records and is a member of the groundbreaking Chicago-based rock band Wilco. Since 2001, he has recorded six studio albums with Wilco, including the seminal Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and the Grammy Award-winning A Ghost is Born.
Not many people can front a rock band, sing Górecki's Third Symphony, lead a marching band processional down the streets of the Sundance film festival, and perform in a baroque opera of their own composing all in a month's time. But Shara Worden can. Her multi-faceted career as My Brightest Diamond, which began with an acclaimed independent rock record, has reflected her journey into the world of performing arts. This Is My Hand, her fourth album, marks a confident return to rock music, one informed by her mastery of composition and a new exploration into the electronic.
Born in Arkansas and then raised all around the country, Worden came from a musical family of traveling evangelists. She went on to study operatic voice and then classical composition after a move to New York City. Shara began issuing recordings as My Brightest Diamond in 2006, following a protean period in the band AwRY, and joining Sufjan Stevens' Illinoisemakers live ensemble. Asthmatic Kitty Records released her debut album, Bring Me The Workhorse in 2006, A Thousand Sharks' Teeth in 2008, and 2011's All Things Will Unwind, which featured songs written for the chamber ensemble yMusic.
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