RECITAL #02

PROGRAMME

COLIN CURRIE QUARTET

FIRST BROADCAST 18 MARCH 2021

www.polyphonic.club COLIN CURRIE QUARTET from The Stoller Hall

Colin Currie percussion Owen Gunnell percussion Adrian Spillett percussion Sam Walton percussion

As four of the world’s leading solo, symphonic and chamber percussionists, hailed for their “musicianship, almost unbelievable and breathtaking technical skill rivalling the most extreme of acrobats”, each member of Colin Currie Quartet brings a different and insightful slant to the art of chamber percussion performance.

They explore an astonishing sound world of contemporary percussion in Manchester’s stunning Stoller Hall, bringing together four works from the UK and USA, including two pieces for vibraphones and marimbas, and ’s Drumming Part 1, a unifying influence for whole programme. As co-commissioners of Dave Maric’s Nascent Forms, this performance represents the quartet’s UK premiere of the work.

Joseph Pereira Mallet Quartet Andy Akiho Pillar IV Dave Maric Nascent Forms Steve Reich Drumming Part 1

www.polyphonic.club BIOGRAPHY

Colin Currie

A dynamic and adventurous soloist, Currie’s commitment to commissioning and creating new music was recognised in 2015 by the Royal Philharmonic Society who awarded him the Instrumentalist Award. From his earliest years Currie forged a pioneering path in creating new music for percussion, winning the Royal Philharmonic Society Young Artist Award in 2000 and receiving a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award in 2005. Currie has premiered works by composers such as Steve Reich, , , HK Gruber, Mark-Anthony Turnage, Sir James MacMillan, Brett Dean, Sir Harrison Birtwistle, , Helen Grime, , Kalevi Aho, Andy Akiho, Rolf Wallin, Kurt Schwertsik, Andrew Norman, Julia Wolfe and Nico Muhly. Looking ahead, in the coming seasons Currie will premiere new works by Bruno Mantovani, , and Steve Reich.

In October 2017 Currie launched Colin Currie Records, in conjunction with LSO Live, as a platform for recording his diverse projects, celebrating the extraordinary developments for percussion music in recent times. The label's first release was the Colin Currie Group's debut recording, Steve Reich's Drumming, which was hailed as "thunderously exciting" (The Times). In October 2018 Currie released the second disc in this catalogue, The Scene of The Crime, with Håkan Hardenberger, the third release following in April 2019, Colin Currie & Steve Reich Live at Fondation Louis Vuitton, once again featuring the Colin Currie Group.

A major highlight of Currie’s 2020/21 season is the world premiere of Bruno Mantovani’s , Allegro Barbaro, with the Tonkünstler Orchestra in June 2021, following the postponement of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France’s premiere last season.

Currie also returns to the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, performs with the Warsaw Philharmonic, National Orchestra of Belgium and Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra Katowice and the Colin Currie Quartet make their Lithuanian and Hong Kong debuts.

Currie's dynamic ensemble the Colin Currie Group was formed in 2006 to celebrate the music of Steve Reich and made its five-star debut at the BBC Proms. Since then, with Reich’s personal endorsement Currie and his ensemble have taken on the role of ambassadors of Drumming, which they have performed at many venues and festivals internationally. The Colin Currie Group return to the Royal Festival Hall in April 2021 for an all-Reich programme including Music for 18 Musicians.

Currie is Artist in Association at London's Southbank Centre, where he was the focus of a major percussion festival Metal Wood Skin in 2014 and continues to perform there every season.

www.polyphonic.club BIOGRAPHY

Colin Currie Quartet

The Colin Currie Quartet was formed in 2018 to present exciting and adventurous works written for percussion quartet. The group is made up of Colin Currie, Owen Gunnell, Adrian Spillett and Sam Walton, who form the core of the Colin Currie Group, and in this new collective they perform works by Steve Reich and branch out into other composers who have been swept along by that highly influential force.

As some of the world’s leading solo, symphonic and chamber percussionists, each player of the quartet brings a different and insightful slant to the art of chamber percussion performance, and the group will be adding substantially to its repertoire in the coming years, including a dramatic piece for four drumkits by Julia Wolfe and a new quartet by British composer Dave Maric.

In their debut season, 2018/19, they performed at the NCPA Beijing, Wigmore Hall, Norfolk & Norwich Festival, Dublin’s Great Music in Irish Houses and East Neuk Festival in Scotland.

www.colincurrie.com @colincurrieperc

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The Polyphonic Concert Club is a Polyphonic Films Limited production produced in partnership with St George’s Bristol, The Stoller Hall in Manchester and The National Centre for Early Music in York. www.stgeorgesbristol.co.uk www.stollerhall.com www.ncem.co.uk www.polyphonicfilms.com

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