FREE COMMUNITY EVENT: So Percussion presents Steve Reich’s Drumming

Posted on February 3, 2016 by maestrobeats

If you’ve been following what’s going on in Seattle this week, I think you’d agree it’s been an incredible showcase of new music performances. There’s more to come, it involves So Percussion, and it’s FREE!

Photo Credit: David Andrako

So Percussion kicked off a week long residency with UW World Series and UW School of Music at Meany Hall on Sunday evening. In a presentation on UW World Series’ International Chamber Music series, music of Steve Reich, Glenn Kotche, John Cage, and Bryce Dessner filled the hall with hypnotic precision, leaving a percussion-hungry audience satisfied.

Since then, they’ve been busy working with students, performing impromptu pop-ups around campus, talking shop, and to bookend their visit, So Percussion will offer a collaborative performance of Steve Reich’s “Drumming” with University of Washington School of Music Students on Thursday, February 4 at 6pm in the Meany Studio Theatre. This event is free & open to the public and presented by the UW World Series in partnership with The UW School of Music and Henry Art Gallery.

They also made a stop by our studios to shoot a couple of videos, which will be up and running in a couple of weeks. Look how much fun these guys are!

So Percussion 02-01-16 3 -resized

We put tomorrow’s “Drumming” performance in the “you better not miss this!” category. We’ll see you there!

NEW VIDEOS: Danish String Quartet

Posted on November 25, 2015 by maestrobeats

Here’s a charming little story, summarized from the Danish String Quartet‘s website, interspersed with the in-studio videos from November 3, 2015:

The Danish String Quartet are three Danes (Rune, Asbjørn, Fredrik) and one Norwegian cellist (Fredrik). They often joke about being modern Vikings – perhaps a touch more harmless than their ancestors, not pillaging cities or razing the English coastline!

The three Danes met at a summer music camp and bonded, as the youngest players in the group, and became best friends through football and chamber music and continued their studies together at the Royal Academy of Music. In 2008, Norwegian cellist Fredrik joined the group – they “found him hidden away in a castle outside Stockholm.” While the quartet has varied hobbies ranging from sailing, old cars, cooking, gaming, reading, playing, talking, and drinking – they play string quartets like it’s their job (because it is!) but also because it’s a lot of fun.

If all goes according to plan, around 2060 they will beat the world record for longest running string quartet and will celebrate with a giant feast. We’ll be waiting for our invitations!

Huge thanks to the UW World Series for helping to make this video session possible!

NEW VIDEOS: Friction Quartet

Posted on July 10, 2015 by maestrobeats

We jumped for joy when San Francisco-based Friction Quartet came to Seattle for a few performances and squeezed a trip to our studios into their schedules! They shared some John Adams and Janacek, a few of their twentieth century favorites.

Friction is dedicated to building new audiences for classical music and takes risks to enlarge the audience’s understanding of what a string quartet can be through the use of digital sound processing, percussion, amplification, movement, and cross-discipline collaborations. Their performances have been described as “terribly beautiful” (San Francisco Classical Voice) and “chillingly effective” (San Francisco Examiner).

Be sure to check out the latest news from Friction Quartet down in the bay area and beyond!

A Celebration of American Composers: Video Edition

Posted on July 2, 2015 by maestrobeats

In celebration of July 4th, we have compiled some of our favorite videos by American Composers. Thanks to all of the artists and composers for sharing their music and performances with us!