I’ve been writing about Steve Reich, who turned 90 on Saturday, pretty much from the beginning of this website back in 2007. From birthday celebrations at 70 and 80, to a multi-concert tribute at Barcelona’s Sonar Festival, I’ve seen a lot of his music over the years. Indeed, there isn’t an electronic or contemporary classical musician alive who doesn’t owe most of their career to Reich’s innovations. As Alex Ross once wrote: “Reich changed music, and he also changed how music relates to society.”
If Steve’s music has fallen slightly out of the spotlight over the past few years, the composer himself remains undiminished, still writing new music and still talking as excitedly as ever. Oddly, there were no NYC-based Reich tributes this past weekend, but several others of note are coming up over the next few weeks:
Wednesday 10/7: Trinity Wall Street hosts two different concerts featuring the Trinity Choir and NOVUS along with Sandbox Percussion: a lunchtime program pairing Reich’s Jacob’s Ladder with works by Andy Akiho, Dorothy Rudd Moore, David Lang and Jessie Montgomery, followed by an all-Reich evening concert, including Tehillim, Proverb, Traveler’s Prayer, and a reprise of Jacob’s Ladder. Both events are free, registration recommended.
Wednesday 10/14: Japanese percussion virtuoso Kuniko Kato performs a percussion-heavy program at the Kaufman Music Center, including Drumming, Part 1, Nagoya Marimbas, Piano Phase and Mallet Quartet.
Wed 10/14 – Sun 10/18: The Park Avenue Armory is presenting five performances of Steve’s signature work Music for 18 Musicians (1976) in an extended presnentation featuring three generations of musicians: the original Steve Reich Ensemble, the Grammy-winning new-music ensemble Alarm Will Sound, and students from the Manhattan School of Music. Set in the Wade Thompson Drill Hall, the musicians will encircle the audience, with a connective piece by composer Caroline Shaw inspired by Reich’s music. (At the moment, all five performances are sold out, but the Armory will be running a standby line 1 hour prior to each event.)
Thursday 10/22: Carnegie Hall presents a major celebration of Steve’s music, featuring many of the composer’s top collaborators. Guitarist-composer Bryce Dessner (The National) performs Electric Counterpoint while Lisa Kaplan and Nico Muhly perform the US premiere of Reich’s Two Pianos (2020). Brad Lubman conducts the combined forces of the Bang on a Can All-Stars and Ensemble Signal in Reich’s Pulitzer Prize–winning Double Sextet, Jacob’s Ladder, and the US premiere of In All Your Ways, premiered just a few weeks ago at the Edinbugh Festival.
Wednesday, 10/28: Longtime Reich champions Sō Percussion offer their acclaimed version of the complete Drumming at the 92nd Street Y, with a host of guest artists including Beth Meyers, Becca Stevens, Alex Sopp and more.
Tuesday December 8: The New York Phil – which has performed several of Steve’s works over the years, including the premiere of “Jacob’s Ladder” in 2023 – gets in the mix under the auspices of its “Sound On” contemporary music series. Led by longtime new music champion David Robertson, members of the Phil will perform Clapping Music, Double Sextet and Tehillim with Synergy Vocals, who also performed on the Jacob’s Ladder premiere.