Nonesuch Records wishes Steve Reich a very happy 75th birthday today and has added a new station to Nonesuch Radio featuring works from the composer's quarter-century of Nonesuch albums. Nonesuch has also teamed up with Reich's publisher, Boosey & Hawkes, for a prize package giveaway. NPR Music, noting that "such a birthday calls for major celebration," features a tribute to Reich from a number of NPR contributors and musicians who have worked with the composer. Q2 Music airs an updated presentation of its week-long festival Maximum Reich. The next two weeks bring all-Reich concerts from Kronos Quartet in Berkeley, Ensemble Modern in Paris, and the LSO in London.
Nonesuch Records wishes Steve Reich a very happy 75th birthday today. For one of many possible soundtracks to today's event, Nonesuch Radio has created Steve Reich @ 75, a new channel that features some 90 minutes of music spanning the composer's career through his rich Nonesuch catalog, now more than a quarter century strong: from his early work to his latest album, WTC 9/11, including, of course, a selection from the Grammy-winning recording of his seminal Music for 18 Musicians. To listen, click the Radio link above or go to nonesuch.com/radio.
To further celebrate Steve Reich's 75th birthday, Nonesuch has teamed up with his publisher, Boosey & Hawkes, to offer fans the chance to win one of ten Reich-themed prize packages. Each prize package includes a copy of Reich's latest album, WTC 9/11, an official Steve Reich Music for 18 Musicians t-shirt, and two official Steve Reich Drumming coffee mugs. For your chance to win and test your knowledge of Steve Reich's music, head to boosey.com now.
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NPR Music, noting that "such a birthday calls for major celebration," has posted a tribute to Reich, in which a number of NPR contributors and musicians who have worked with the composer, included Kronos Quartet's David Harrington, select works by Reich for NPR's playlist and reflect on their choice.
"Despite the obvious truth the calendar provides," writes NPR's Anastasia Tsioulcas in her introduction to the feature, "it's incredibly hard to square the ever-youthful Reich, as a composer and as an individual, with such an august anniversary. His recent work—from the emotionally charged WTC 9/11 to the chiming electric guitars of 2X5—is as profoundly innovative and fresh as his It's Gonna Rain [from 1965]." Read the list and listen to the selections at npr.org.
In related news, Q2 Music, the online new-music station from NPR member station WQXR, airs an updated presentation of its 2009 festival Maximum Reich, a week-long immersion into Reich's works and its influences. Tune in all week at wqxr.org.
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Reich's 75th year has been celebrated the world over with dedicated festivals and live performances of his works all year long, from Carnegie Hall to the Barbican, Stockholm to Kraków. Kronos Quartet, which performs the title piece on the WTC 9/11 recording, released last month on Nonesuch, continues the concert tributes with an all-Reich program at Hertz Hall in Berkeley, California, this coming Sunday, October 9. The concert includes the Bay Area premiere of WTC 9/11; the two other string quartets Reich wrote for Kronos, Different Trains and Triple Quartet; and selections from The Cave, Reich's 1993 collaboration with video artist Beryl Korot.
Next week, the celebration moves to Paris with the composer on hand. He joins Ensemble Modern, led by Brad Lubman, at the Cité de la Musique on October 11 for an all-Reich program that includes the French premiere of Reich's Pulitzer Prize-winning piece Double Sextet as well as Drumming (Part 1) and Music for 18 Musicians. The event also includes a discussion with the composer. It's part of a week-long series of concerts at the hall titled Steve Reich, Pulsations.
The following weekend, on Saturday, October 15, the London Symphony Orchestra presents two different events in London featuring Reich's music: an afternoon performance demonstration by orchestra members with students from the Guildhall School at LSO St. Luke's followed by an evening concert at Barbican Hall with Synergy Vocals. The evening's all-Reich program includes Three Movements, The Four Sections, Clapping Music, and The Desert Music. Boosey & Hawkes is giving away tickets to both London events as well; to enter to win, visit boosey.com.
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To take a look through Steve Reich's complete Nonesuch catalog, head to the Nonesuch Store, where CD orders include high-quality, 320 kbps MP3s at checkout.
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