quotes and reviews

Quotes

“…a mesmerizing performance…”

“…brilliant…”

“…consistently impressive…”

"Time and again...you found yourself smiling in a quiet amazement that could verge on disbelief."

–The New York Times

"The range of colors and voices that So Percussion coaxes from its menagerie is astonishing and entrancing."  

-Billboard Magazine

"...NYC experimental powerhouse."  

- The Village Voice 

"If percussionists are, as proclaimed elsewhere, the new princes of the realm of virtuosity, then these four young, steel-wristed, Brooklyn-based Yale graduates wear the crown with panache."

- The Financial Times

“…So Percussion and associates performed with striking clarity, vigor, and delicacy. During the fourth and final section of “Drumming," all nine percussionists, in a blur of flying mallets, played all three families of instruments full blast while the vocalists and piccolo chimed along. When ''Drumming" came to its abrupt ending, the Gardner Museum audience rose and responded with its own percussive tribute.” 

–The Boston Globe 

“…one will not find a better representation of "Drumming" on disc; it is almost like Pierre Boulez' Deutsche Grammophone recording of Le Sacre du Printemps…” 

-All Music Guide 

“The sounds were lovely, so lovely in fact that five or 10 minutes of repetition with relatively few variations or shift in sound color held me spellbound. That such sweetness could so quickly follow abrasive sounds speaks to the skill of both composer [David] Lang and his expert dedicatees. “

-San Francisco Classical Voice 

 

Reviews

The New York Times

"...it is the arrangement and imaginative juxtaposition of familiar instrumental timbres with splashing, crinkling and other exotic noises that makes these pieces so irresistible and entrancing." October 31, 2010

"Time and again...you found yourself smiling in a quiet amazement that could verge on disbelief."March 27, 2010

"If you think about it, drums are the new violins." (featured in article) December 28, 2009

Feature article: July 20, 2007

"Watching the ensemble So Percussion brilliantly perform Steve Reich's ''Music for Pieces of Wood'' was like watching whirling dervishes enter an intensely focused, disciplined trance." March 26, 2007

 

The Washington Post

"... [So Percussion] not only showcased their much-noted virtuosity, but they also provided a well-thought-out introduction to their repertoire." May 10, 2009

 

All Music

"...[Paul Lansky's Threads is] the confident and poised work of a composer who's a master of his craft."All Music Review