The Virginian-Pilot, May 4, 1997 (download PDF) This is a review of a concert by one of the earliest incarnations of The Bob Becker Ensemble, a group organized to perform my chamber percussion repertoire. At this time the group consisted of pianist Nikki Stoia, marimbist Christopher Norton and soprano Barbara Hannigan. Those three performers stayed… Read more »
I believe this is my hundredth NEXUS blog post! Bob, Bill, Robin, Garry, Russell and Ray have also been posting, but this is Number One Hundred for me personally. We’ve covered a lot of ground together, haven’t we ?! Composers, film, organizations, sponsors, travels and sights, programming ideas, workshops, art, clinics, education, symposiums, concerts, sound… Read more »
The release of the terrific new Canadian Brass recording featuring NEXUS got me thinking about other collaborations that NEXUS has enjoyed over the years. Here is a particularly unusual one: In 1982, NEXUS created a three-volume set of recordings with Canadian poet out-of-print, but an article by Ted Shaw in the Windsor Star in October… Read more »
The NEXUS CD Rune features three major works commissioned by and composed for NEXUS by award-winning Canadian composers John Hawkins, James Tenney and Bruce Mather. It also features cover art by Regan Morris: two works entitled Lightning and Lightning #2.
The morning routine on Sunday September 12 was different. Bonnie and Diane left early to spend a day revisiting Kyoto. I slept until 8:00 AM and instead of going to Starbucks, I walked to a nearby AM/PM convenience store to bring some small snaks and iced coffee back to my hotel room, where I wrote… Read more »
Saturday September 11 started with the (by now) normal routine – emails, blogging, Starbucks, “round up” (gathering everything to take to the hall for the concert). At 11:30 AM Kaz (Meguro from Showa) called my room from the hotel lobby. He and his wife, Yashio, had flown down from Yokohama to meet me and NEXUS… Read more »
Friday September 10 began at 6:00 AM again after a solid 7-hours of sleep. Before heading over to the normal NEXUS breakfast gathering at Starbucks, I checked my emails. Yesterday (9th) was Ruth’s and my 42nd anniversary and a very nice email was awaiting me in response to the one I sent last night. After… Read more »
On Thursday, September 9, I was finally able to sleep until 6 AM. After waking up I spent about an hour taking care of emails and then organizing the stuff in my room – concert clothes, suitcase, CDs and bedding to get ready for the open rehearsal taking place this afternoon. I had a nice… Read more »
The entire morning of September 8 was spent writing and posting the previous blogs, of course with a coffee break at Starbuck’s. At 1:30 PM we left the hotel and took the Hankyu Line train to the concert hall for the first full rehearsal with the P.A.C. Orchestra. We arrived just in time to check… Read more »
On Tuesday morning September 7 after the obligatory coffee at Starbuck’s, we decided to go to Kyoto for the unanticipated free day. (The conductor, Yutaka Sado, was only going to rehearse with the brass section this day, so NEXUS was excused.) The train ride to Kyoto was only about 45-minutes at the ridiculously low ticket… Read more »
Monday September 6 began with a wake up at 5:30 AM. At 7 AM Russell and Bonnie called and we went to Starbuck’s again to be joined soon by Garry, Diane and Ryan Scott. At 9 AM we took two taxis to Osaka Castle. This was my third time at this impressive historic site that… Read more »
The 2010/2011 concert season marks the 40th anniversary of NEXUS, and the season begins at the Hyogo Performing Arts Center near Osaka, Japan with three concerts, all of which have been sold-out for weeks in advance. The concerts feature Toru Takemitsu’s “From me flows what you call Time” with the Hyogo Arts Center Orchestra, conducted… Read more »
Click HERE to read about NEXUS’ start to its 40th Anniversary season in Japan.
With NEXUS being in Japan this month, I thought I would do a little armchair travelling of my own. I have been looking at Kobe and the Hyogo area where the guys are performing.
NEXUS leaves for Japan this weekend, where they will be performing their signature work by Toru Takemitsu, From me flows what you call Time,
