Tonight’s concert at Koerner Hall with NEXUS, Steve Reich, Ryan Scott, Greg Oh, Simon Docking, David Occhipinti, James Brown and Roberto Occhipinti, was SO amazing! There was excitement, complexity, simplicity, anticipation, all sorts of unexpected delights:
THIS JUST IN: APRIL 29th CONCERT IS OFFICIALLY SOLD OUT! THERE ARE STILL A FEW TICKETS LEFT FOR April 28th FUNDRAISER. Is it on your calendar? Have you bought your tickets? The NEXUS guys are converging on Toronto today to begin the final rehearsals for the STEVE REICH LIVE! concert on Thursday night, April 29th,… Read more »
The serene cover art for the NEXUS album out of the blue is in keeping with what Swiss drum-set artist here.) In out of the blue‘s booklet, Hauser says, “Improvising with NEXUS is like having 10 extra arms and ears and being surrounded by about 150 years of musical experience …I heard NEXUS in… Read more »
A spectacular fundraiser will take place at “the most- talked-about house in Toronto” on Wednesday, April 28th at 7:30 pm. We hope you will join NEXUS in this opportunity to meet Pulitzer-Prize-winning composer Steve Reich,
Every once in a long while I have a look to see who has been blogging about NEXUS. For example I just caught a glimpse of our very own quartet at percussionist Abby Savell’s website, where they were captured on film with her new baby during rehearsals for the Ojai Music Festival in 2008. Likewise,… Read more »
The New Yorker has called Steve Reich “the most original musical thinker of our time.” Steve Reich has called NEXUS “probably the most acclaimed percussion group on earth.” Clearly, this is a match made in heaven! NEXUS has been very busy preparing for the up-coming premiere of their exciting and much-anticipated Steve Reich commission, taking… Read more »
NEXUS has had some wonderful opportunities to play with some of the drum-set greats: Out of the Blue CD; and of course the inimitable Steve Gadd. NEXUS performed with Steve at Gotanda Kan-I Hoken Hall in Japan at “Super Percussion”, part of the Tokyo Music Joy Festival. Bob Becker not only arranged several pieces that… Read more »
You can catch a recent article about NEXUS by clicking here. The Varsity, the newspaper of the University of Toronto, ran the article in mid-March, this time featuring NEXUS’s Bob Becker, who talks about the genesis and evolution of both NEXUS and himself as a musician. Enjoy!
In case you missed it, John Terauds ran a great article in the Toronto Star a couple of weeks ago about percussion today. The article features NEXUS’ own Russell Hartenberger
Further to my blog posting on July 26, 2009 (see “On Wings of Song”) the premiere of a new work for chamber orchestra, narrator and children’s chorus occurred on Sunday March 28, 2010 at the Hochstein Performance Hall in Rochester, New York. The performers were Simon Pontin as Narrator, the Bach Children’s Chorus directed by… Read more »
Last year (2009) percussionist Daniel Smithiger asked the members of NEXUS to answer a number of interesting questions for an interview now posted on the Percussive Notes magazine. Below are my answers to a few of Daniel’s questions. DS: Of what things are you most proud, in the accomplishments and history of NEXUS? BB: I… Read more »
Don’t forget that this Saturday evening at 7:30 p.m. NEXUS is performing in the handsome Glenn Gould Studio Theatre in downtown Toronto in the CBC Broadcasting building. ( Buy tickets. Address: 250 Front Street West, Toronto, ON). If you are a student, show your ID and get in for a mere $10 – a great… Read more »
During the week of February 14, 2010 I made visits to two schools in the University of Wisconsin network – UW Stevens Point and UW Madison. I was lucky with the weather as I had to connect through Detroit going and coming back, and at this time of year in the northeast, the more airports… Read more »
NEXUS has invited three guest artists to perform at the upcoming NEXUS concerts in March: Midori Koga, Paul Ormandy and Ryan Scott.
I have been reading wonderful notices at the Ojai Festival in California not long ago. Slonimsky was a gifted musician who was born into a remarkable Russian family in 1894, fled his homeland during the Revolution of 1917 and emigrated from Europe to America in 1923 at the invitation of George Eastman (inventor of the… Read more »
