Steve Reich is the subject of a feature article in the Wall Street Journal, which looks at his latest piece, WTC 9/11, and the very personal inspiration behind it. The Journal's classical music writer Barbara Jepson spoke with the composer and with David Harrington, the artistic director and violinist of Kronos Quartet, which will give the piece its New York City premiere at Carnegie Hall this Saturday. It's part of an all-Reich concert that also includes the New York premieres of Mallet Quartet and 2x5 and a performance of the Pulitzer Prize-winning piece Double Sextet. Performing in addition to Kronos are Bang on a Can All-Stars and Friends with Glenn Kotche, eighth blackbird, and So Percussion.

"Musical inspiration springs from many wells: an abstract idea, an emotional trigger, the instrumental configuration of prospective performers," writes Jepson. "Each played a role in the creation of WTC 9/11, the latest work by the American Steve Reich, whose influence on several generations of composers is widely acknowledged."

The article goes on to look at, among other things, Reich's use of recorded voices in WTC 9/11 and in earlier works, having done so "to particularly telling effect in his first piece for Kronos, Different Trains (1988), one of his most original and most moving works."

You can read the complete article at online.wsj.com.

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Yesterday, Reich appeared on Soundcheck, the daily music show from New York NPR member station WNYC, to discuss WTC 9/11, which the show's host, John Schaefer, calls "the most talked-about piece of classical music this year." You can listen to the show here:

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Time Out New York describes the music in Saturday's concert as "a program suited to its festive occasion." Time Out's Steve Smith writes of WTC 9/11: "As in Different Trains, a previous masterpiece Reich created for Kronos, WTC 9/11 mixes live playing with recorded music, ambient sounds and speech: here, the voices of air-traffic controllers, witnesses, firemen and mourners ... WTC 9/11 treats its sensitive subject with sobriety and dignity." Read more at newyork.timeout.com.

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The following weekend, May 7 and 8, the birthday celebration heads across the Atlantic to the Barbican in London for Reverberations, a marathon weekend focused on Reich's musical influence and his compositions. Reverberations includes all of the groups from the Carnegie Hall concert and more.

In honor of the event, Nonesuch Records, the Barbican, and Reich's publisher, Boosey & Hawkes, are offering a special prize package, which includes:

• Two tickets to attend Reverberations: The Influence of Steve Reich, Session 6, at the Barbican Centre, on May 8
• One copy of the full score of Double Sextet from Boosey & Hawkes
• One copy of the Double Sextet / 2x5 CD from Nonesuch Records.

On the May 8 Session 6 program is Reich's Clapping Music, performed by the composer and So Percussion, You Are (Variations), Double Sextet, and more.

For more information and to enter to win, head to boosey.com now and answer a trivia question about the composer. Contest entries must be received by Tuesday, May 3, at 3 PM GMT for a chance to win.

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On May 13, Kronos Quartet gives the Scottish premiere of WTC 9/11 at Glasgow Royal Concert Hall as part of Kronos in Glasgow, a four-day festival hosted by Kronos and presented by Glasgow's Concert Halls. There is an extensive article about the festival in the Scotsman, which you can read at scotsman.com. There is also an article on the events in The List, which you'll find at list.co.uk.