News
August 23, 20172 New Concert Announcements and Free Educational Outreach Opportunities
The Troy Savings Bank Music Hall Corporation is happy to announce two eclectic musical groups! Sō Percussion performs this fall, and later in our season, Time for Three. Both groups bend towards classical music with some big twists and novel interpretations.
Sō Percussion
Wednesday, November 15, 2017, 7:30 PM Tickets: $34, $29
For over a decade, Sō Percussion has redefined the modern percussion ensemble as a flexible, omnivorous entity, pushing its voice to the forefront of American musical culture. Praised by the New Yorker for their “exhilarating blend of precision and anarchy, rigor and bedlam,” Sō’s adventurous spirit is written into the DNA passed down from composers like John Cage and Steve Reich, as well as from pioneering ensembles like the Kronos Quartet and Nexus Percussion. Sō Percussion’s career now encompasses over 20 albums, touring throughout the USA and around the world, a dizzying array of collaborative projects, several ambitious educational programs, and a steady output of their own music.
When the founding members of Sō Percussion convened as graduate students at the Yale School of Music, their initial goal was to present an exciting repertoire of pieces by 20th century luminaries such as Cage, Reich, and Iannis Xenakis. An encounter with David Lang, Pulitzer Prize-winning composer and co-founder of New York’s Bang on a Can organization, yielded their first commissioned piece: the 36 minute, three movement the sō-called laws of nature. Since that first major new work, Sō has commissioned some of the greatest American composers of our time to build a new repertoire, including Steve Reich, Steve Mackey, Paul Lansky, Martin Bresnick, and many others.
Over time, an appetite for boundless creativity lead the group to branch out beyond the composer/interpreter paradigm. Since 2006 with group member Jason Treuting’s amid the noise, the members of Sō Percussion have been composing in their own right within the group and for others. In 2012, their third evening-length work Where (we) Live premiered at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, and travelled to the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s 30th Next Wave Festival. Where (we) Live followed on the heels of 2009’s Imaginary City, a fully staged sonic meditation on urban soundscapes.
Sō Percussion’s artistic circle extends beyond their contemporary classical roots. They first expanded this boundary with the prolific duo Matmos, whom the New York Times called “ideal collaborators” on their 2010 combined album Treasure State. Further projects and appearances with Wham City shaman Dan Deacon, legendary drummer Bobby Previte, jam band kings Medeski, Martin, and Wood, and Wilco’s Glenn Kotche drew the circle even wider. In 2011, the rock band The National invited Sō to open one of their sold-out shows at New York’s Beacon Theater.
Sō Percussion is heavily involved in mentoring young musicians and will offer a free education outreach program before their performance at the Hall. Educators interested in learning more, please contact Maureen Neufeld at maureen@troymusichall.org or 518-273-8945.
Sō Percussion – NPR Tiny Desk Concert: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EDGt5l5_20
Sō Percussion website: https://sopercussion.com/
Time for Three
Thursday, February 15, 2018, 7:30 PM PM Tickets: $34
The groundbreaking, category-shattering trio Time for Three (Tf3) transcends traditional classification, with elements of classical, country western, gypsy and jazz idioms forming a blend all its own. The members — Nicolas (Nick) Kendall, violin; Charles Yang violin; and Ranaan Meyer, double bass — carry a passion for improvisation, composing and arranging, all prime elements of the ensemble’s playing.
To date, the group has performed hundreds of engagements as diverse as its music: from featured guest soloists on the Philadelphia Orchestra’s subscription series to Club Yoshi’s in San Francisco to residencies at the Kennedy Center to Christoph Eschenbach’s birthday concert at the Schleswig-Holstein Festival in Germany. Recent highlights included their Carnegie Hall debut, appearances with the Boston Pops, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, a sell-out concert at the 2014 BBC Proms, and an appearance on the ABC prime time hit show
“Dancing with the Stars.”
Tf3’s high-energy performances are free of conventional practices, drawing instead from the members’ differing musical backgrounds. The trio also performs its own arrangements of traditional repertoire and Ranaan Meyer provides original compositions to complement the trio’s offerings.
In 2014 Time for Three released their debut Universal Music Classics album, Time for Three, which spent seven consecutive weeks in the Top 10 of Billboard’s Classical Crossover Chart. On March 25, 2016 PBS premiered the Emmy-winning show Time for Three in Concert nationwide. Time for Three in Concert is an hour-long program in collaboration with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Universal Music Classics and WFYI Public Media, that brings together diverse artists and unique arrangements to create a one-of-a-kind concert experience.
To date, the group has performed hundreds of engagements, from sell-out concerts at the 2014 BBC Proms, to Christoph Eschenbach’s birthday concert to residencies at the Kennedy Center and Sun Valley Summer Symphony to name a few. TV performances include appearing on ABC’s ‘Dancing with The Stars’, and an Emmy-winning show “Time for Three in Concert” premiered by PBS. The ensemble are currently travelling throughout Europe as a highlight act of the 2016 NOTP (Night of The Proms) tour.
Time for Three website: https://www.tf3.com/
Time for Three’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/officialtf3
Time for Three’s educational outreach program is sponsored by Kinderhook Bank.
Tickets are available to Music Hall Members on Thursday, August 24 at 10 AM via phone, (518) 273-0038, in person, or online at www.troymusichall.org. Anyone can become a member and get early access. Tickets are available to the general public on Monday, August 28. The Troy Savings Bank Music Hall Box Office is located at 30 Second Street in downtown Troy, and is open Monday through Friday 10 a.m.-5 p.m. More information on the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall and upcoming programs is available on the website at www.troymusichall.org.
