Steve Reich at 75: World Premiere of WTC 9/11
Carnegie Hall To Host "Music of Steve Reich," a 75th Birthday Tribute Concert Featuring Three New York Premieres; Additional Music Festivals to Feature Reich's Music Throughout 2011
Steve Reich — one of America's most celebrated and influential composers — will be honored with concerts around the globe in 2011 to mark his 75th birthday, including performances in Portugal, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Spain, France and Poland. Marking this anniversary, the legendary Kronos Quartet will perform the world premiere of Reich's new work, WTC 9/11, at Duke Performances in Durham, North Carolina on March 19, 2011. The new composition will be performed again at Costa Mesa's Orange County Performing Arts Center (April 6), the University of Maryland's Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center (April 10) and at New York's Carnegie Hall (April 30). The Carnegie Hall event will include a larger celebration of Reich's works, performed by long-time artistic collaborators and friends: Bang on a Can All-Stars, eighth blackbird, So Percussion, along with the Kronos Quartet.
WTC 9/11 integrates a live quartet performance with two additional pre-recorded quartets and pre-recorded voices using stop action sound as a "means of connecting one person to another – harmonically," in the composer's words. The work reflects on the World Trade Center attacks of September 11, 2001, when Reich and his family lived only blocks away from the site of the tragedy, and uses texts from participants in the composition.
In addition to WTC 9/11, the Kronos Quartet concert at Duke Performances offers Reich's complete works for string quartet, Different Trains and Triple Quartet, along with an arrangement of selections from his stage work The Cave. Kronos's recording of Different Trains won a Grammy Award in 1990 for Best Contemporary Classical Composition. WTC 9/11 is Reich's third major commission for the Kronos Quartet.
On April 30, 2011, Carnegie Hall will host the Music of Steve Reich, a special tribute concert showcasing four recent works by the composer. The evening will feature Double Sextet (performed by eighth blackbird and guests) and the New York premieres of Mallet Quartet (So Percussion), 2x5 (Bang on a Can All-Stars and Friends), and WTC 9/11 (Kronos Quartet). The composer was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in 2009 for Double Sextet, which is available on an album with 2x5 via Nonesuch Records (video of 2x5 rehearsal footage can be found here; audio samples of both works available here).
Reich's relationship with Carnegie Hall stretches nearly four decades, dating back to his debut there in 1973 playing Four Organs with the Boston Symphony Orchestra led by Michael Tilson Thomas. Since then, Carnegie Hall has played host to several debut performances of his works, including the world premiere of Variations for Winds, String and Keyboards (chamber version); the U.S. premieres of Octet, Music for a Large Ensemble, and Daniel Variations; and the New York premieres of Cello Counterpoint, Three Movements for Orchestra, Different Trains (version for string orchestra and pre-recorded tape), and Double Sextet.
Steve Reich's WTC 9/11 was commissioned for the Kronos Quartet by the Barbican/London, Carnegie Hall, Duke Performances/Duke University, Krannert Center for the Performing Arts/University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the Philharmonic Society of Orange County, the Phyllis C. Wattis Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts. This commission was also made possible by the Chamber Music America Commissioning Program, with funding generously provided by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Aaron Copland Fund for Music, and the Chamber Music America Endowment Fund.
Reich at 75 highlights
Events to celebrate Steve Reich's 75th birthday take place around the world in 2011, including:
January-December
Casa da Música, Porto, Portugal
Portrait Steve Reich
Steve Reich is the 2011 Associate Composer, with featured concerts throughout the year.
January 26-30
Konserthuset, Stockholm, Sweden
Tonsättarfestivalen: Steve Reich
Five days of concerts featuring the Swedish premieres of Double Sextet, Mallet Quartet and You Are (Variations).
April 30
Carnegie Hall, New York, U.S.
Music of Steve Reich
A special all-Reich evening paying tribute to the composer, featuring the first New York performances of Reich's new quartet WTC 9/11, Mallet Quartet and 2 x 5.
May 7-8
Barbican, London, U.K.
Reverberations: the influence of Steve Reich
London premieres of Double Sextet, Mallet Quartet, 2 x 5 and WTC 9/11 alongside composers influenced by Reich including Louis Andriessen, Anna Clyne, and others.
June 16
L'auditori, Barcelona, Spain
Sánar 2011
Opening-night concert of the festival will feature performances of Double Sextet and Music for 18 Musicians.
September 11-18
Krakow, Poland
Sacrum Profanum festival
Seven concerts including Ensemble Modern performing The Cave, Three Tales and Music for 18 Musicians, Jonny Greenwood playing Electric Counterpoint, and music by John Adams among others.
October
Cité de la Musique, Paris, France
Reich at 75
Concert series to celebrate Reich's birthday on October 3.
October 15
Barbican, London, U.K.
75th birthday concert
The London Symphony Orchestra's all-Reich program conducted by Kristian Järvi includes The Desert Music, Three Movements and The Four Sections.
> For full details about the Reich 75th birthday visit www.boosey.com/reich75.
> For a score sample of WTC 9/11, click here.
> To purchase tickets for the Duke University performance, click here.
> To purchase tickets for the Carnegie Hall performance, click here.
> For audio and video materials of Steve Reich's works, click here.
> To purchase Double Sextet and 2x5 from Nonesuch Records, click here.
For press interviews with Steve Reich and photos, please contact:
Eric M. Gewirtz, Director, Media and Public Relations
[email protected] (212) 358 5361
Hilary Jansen, Publicity Assistant
[email protected] (212) 358 5377
Photo Credit: Jeffrey Herman
