If you were to ask me five years ago how many percussion ensembles I could name, the answer would be, One: Sō Percussion. But, while Sō remains the gold standard in percussion quartets, they have given spawn to a whole new generation of percussion ensembles: Mantra, Iktus Percussion, Third Coast Percussion.
Enter Sandbox Percussion, whom I heard for the first time this past Sunday at Park Slope's Concerts on the Slope series, where they made their debut in 2012. (Robert Leeper reviewed their performance at Kettle Corn New Music last September.) These four talented young musicians (Ian David Rosenbaum, Jonathan Allen, Victor Caccese, and Terry Sweeney) brought a focus and intensity to their playing which belies their years: all of them are in their mid-20's.
Aside from the precision and energy with which they played, Sunday's concert was also remarkable for the number of young composers on the program. In addition to Sandbox members Victor Caccese (Chatter) and Jonathan Allen (Interlude), there were works by L.A. based Thomas Kotcheff (b. 1988) and Yale masters student Natalie Dietterich (b. 1992). Most of the music was tonal and accessible, if somewhat lacking in depth and complexity.
That was supplied in spades by Robert Sirota, Concerts on the Slope's Composer-in-Residence, whose Spindrift was given its world premiere here. (Impressively, this was COTS's 40th world premiere, now in only its 4th season.) Speaking beforehand, Sirota explained that Spindrift is the spray that wind makes on moving water, usually indicating a storm is about to break. The piece itself was a torrent of ideas, mostly executed with mallets on vibes and marimbas. For a brand new piece, the members of Soundbox seemed completely at ease with it.
(Unfortunately, I couldn't stay for the second half of the concerts, which included works by So Percussion's Jason Treuting, Philip Glass Ensemble's David Crowell, and Steve Reich's classic Drumming, Part 1.)
Concerts on the Slope, which doesn't charge a fixed admission to any of its concerts, will be holding it's annual fundraising concert on Thursday, April 30, with performances by Vicky Chow, Jonah Sirota, COTS artistic director Benjamin Larsen, and many others. Details and tickets available here.
More pics on the photo page.
Hello, we have a duo Soprano Meets Contrabass with guest in the drums.
We have invited Victor Monge to come to play with us. I would like to know possibilities to play in your Festival.
Please contact me to study this interesting event: anamaria@owlsong.com. Thank you!
Hello, we have a duo Soprano Meets Contrabass with guest in the drums.
We have invited Victor Monge to come to play with us. I would like to know possibilities to play in your Festival.
Please contact me to study this interesting event: anamaria@owlsong.com. Thank you!
Hello, we have a duo Soprano Meets Contrabass with guest in the drums.
We have invited Victor Monge to come to play with us. I would like to know possibilities to play in your Festival.
Please contact me to study this interesting event: anamaria@owlsong.com. Thank you!
Hello, we have a duo Soprano Meets Contrabass with guest in the drums.
We have invited Victor Monge to come to play with us. I would like to know possibilities to play in your Festival.
Please contact me to study this interesting event: anamaria@owlsong.com. Thank you!
Hello, we have a duo Soprano Meets Contrabass with guest in the drums.
We have invited Victor Monge to come to play with us. I would like to know possibilities to play in your Festival.
Please contact me to study this interesting event: anamaria@owlsong.com. Thank you!
Hello, we have a duo Soprano Meets Contrabass with guest in the drums.
We have invited Victor Monge to come to play with us. I would like to know possibilities to play in your Festival.
Please contact me to study this interesting event: anamaria@owlsong.com. Thank you!
Such a great article…thanks. I help out with this series! I did just notice that the headline is incorrect. It should be Sandbox, not Soundbox Percussion
Such a great article…thanks. I help out with this series! I did just notice that the headline is incorrect. It should be Sandbox, not Soundbox Percussion
Such a great article…thanks. I help out with this series! I did just notice that the headline is incorrect. It should be Sandbox, not Soundbox Percussion
Such a great article…thanks. I help out with this series! I did just notice that the headline is incorrect. It should be Sandbox, not Soundbox Percussion
Such a great article…thanks. I help out with this series! I did just notice that the headline is incorrect. It should be Sandbox, not Soundbox Percussion
Such a great article…thanks. I help out with this series! I did just notice that the headline is incorrect. It should be Sandbox, not Soundbox Percussion