Sō Percussion performs Steve Reich
“The range of colors and voices that Sō Percussion coaxes from its menagerie is astonishing and entrancing.” – Billboard Magazine
Sō Percussion returns to Groundtone for a second day, this time to present a free program of Steve Reich, staged outdoors in the beautiful PS21 fields. The Grammy-winning ensemble will deliver masterfully nuanced and personal renditions of the minimalist composer’s percussion repertoire.
Reich has made a deep impact on each of the quartet’s players. In their own words:
“My experience of Reich’s music has always been first and foremost about enjoyment. The pieces I got to know first were Electric Counterpoint and Nagoya Marimbas. I immediately felt like he was speaking a musical language that I understood.”—Adam Sliwinski
“When I got to Yale and started playing with the guys that became So, we put together every piece of his that we could when he visited the school, and played a show of a bunch of his percussion pieces. It was a rush to play for him then and it has led to a great relationship.” —Jason Treuting
“As a percussionist, his legacy is incredibly important because I don’t think any of us would be doing what we do if he hadn’t done what he did. I will always be grateful for his huge contribution to the percussion (and overall instrumental music) community.” —Josh Quillen
“I remember really vividly the first time that I heard Reich’s music. Actually, it truly was one of those life-changing experiences while listening to music. I was in the car with a bunch of friends on a long road trip, and we had just gotten done listening to Mahler’s Second Symphony, during which I had drifted off to sleep (sorry Mahler! I swear, I like that music too). When I woke up I heard what I swore was ambient electronic music — turns out it was Music for 18 Musicians.” —Eric Beach
Groundtone is PS21’s annual weekend-long celebration of adventurous music by an eclectic selection of today’s most original voices. Dazzling performances and immersive experiences take place across the PS21 grounds with concerts in our theater, fields, installations, and barns.
This year’s Groundtone features Sō Percussion in collaboration with Grammy-nominated songwriter Becca Stevens, pathbreaking harpist Parker Ramsay, and a full slate of artists who defy categorization. On June 21, PS21 will usher the globally-renowned Make Music Day to Chatham for the first time, with a sunrise musical procession created by Phil Kline; Annea Lockwood’s Home Ground, a new site specific work spanning the PS21 terrain; and the return of Sayer Mansfield’s Dive Barn.
Groundtone is four days of audacious music, unexpected collaboration, sound, and community in the PS21 landscape.
For 25 years, Grammy-winning percussion quartet Sō Percussion has redefined chamber music for the 21st century through an “exhilarating blend of precision and anarchy, rigor and bedlam” (The New Yorker). The group is celebrated by audiences and presenters for a dazzling range of work: for live performances in which “telepathic powers of communication” (New York Times) bring to life the vibrant percussion repertoire; for an extravagant array of collaborations in classical music, pop, indie rock, contemporary dance, and theater; and for work in education and the community, creating opportunities and platforms for music and artists that explore the immense possibility of art in our time.
A commitment to the creation and amplification of new work, and extraordinary powers of perception and communication have made Sō a trusted partner for composers, helping inspire music that expands the style and capacity of brilliant voices of our time. Sō’s collaborative composition partners include David Lang, Julia Wolfe, Nathalie Joachim, Dan Trueman, Kendall K. Williams, Angélica Negrón, Shodekeh Talifero, claire rousay, Leilehua Lanzilotti, Bora Yoon, Olivier Tarpaga, Bobby Previte, Matmos, and many others.
In May 2025, Sō Percussion embarks on a two-week residency at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) for two programs, one featuring new collaborations with Helado Negro and Kate Stables (This is the Kit), and the other featuring Caroline Shaw and Danni Lee Parpan (Ringdown) performing highlights from the recent Grammy-winning album, Rectangles and Circumstance. Dates with Shaw and Ringdown also include the Barbican in London, the BOZAR in Brussels, Saffron Hall in Essex, and the 92NY in New York City. The season also includes collaborations with composer Viet Cuong; solo shows at the Clark Art Institute in the Berkshires; performances at PASIC, and much more.
Other recent Sō highlights include performances at Carnegie Hall, the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Big Ears, Cal Performances, at the Palau de la Musica Catalana in Barcelona, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Penn Live Arts in Philadelphia, the Hancher Auditorium at the University of Iowa, the Oklahoma Philharmonic (for David Lang’s man made, written for Sō, and featured in their latest recording with the Cincinnati Symphony and Louis Langrée), the Library of Congress, touring Benin and Burkina Faso with Olivier Tarpaga, and more.
Their latest album, Rectangles and Circumstance, with Caroline Shaw, was released in 2024 on Nonesuch Records, following their debut co-written album with Shaw, Let the Soil Play its Simple Part. Other recent albums include A Record Of… on Brassland Music with Buke and Gase, and – on new imprint Sō Percussion Editions – an acclaimed version of Julius Eastman’s Stay On It, plus Darian Donovan Thomas’s Individuate. This adds to a catalog of more than 25 albums featuring landmark recordings of works by David Lang, Steve Reich, Steven Mackey, and others.
The members of Sō Percussion are the Edward T. Cone Performers-in-Residence at Princeton University. Rooted in the belief that music is an elemental form of human communication, and galvanized by forces for social change, Sō enthusiastically pursues a range of social and community outreach through their nonprofit umbrella, including an ongoing partnership with Pan in Motion; the Sō Laboratories concert series; a studio residency program in Brooklyn; and the Sō Percussion Summer Institute, an intensive two-week chamber music seminar for percussionists and composers.
Eric Cha-Beach
Josh Quillen
Adam Sliwinski
Jason Treuting
