Sō Percussion is an American percussion quartet formed in 1999 and based in New York City. Composed of Josh Quillen, Adam Sliwinski, Jason Treuting, and Eric Cha-Beach, the group is well known for recording and touring internationally and for their work with composers such as

Steve Reich Stephen Michael Reich ( ; born October 3, 1936) is an American composer known for his contribution to the development of minimal music in the mid to late 1960s. Reich's work is marked by its use of repetitive figures, slow harmonic rhythm, a ...

, David Lang, Caroline Shaw, Bryce Dessner,

Julia Wolfe Julia Wolfe (born December 18, 1958) is an American composer and professor of music at New York University. According to ''The Wall Street Journal'', Wolfe's music has "long inhabited a terrain of its own, a place where classical forms are rech ...

, Vijay Iyer,

Fred Frith Jeremy Webster "Fred" Frith (born 17 February 1949) is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer, and improviser. Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock ...

Angélica Negrón Angélica Negrón (1981–present) is a Puerto-Rican composer and multi-instrumentalist recognized for composing music for accordions, robotic instruments, toys, and electronics as well as for chamber ensembles, orchestras, choirs, and films. Angé ...

Nathalie Joachim Nathalie Joachim is an American vocalist, flutist, and composer born in Brooklyn, New York. She is a Grammy-nominated artist whose music spans a broad range of genres, including indie-rock, pop, and classical. Some of her works include ''Discourse ...

Dan Trueman Dan Trueman is a composer, fiddle player, improviser, new instrument creator and software designer. He plays the violin and the Norwegian Hardanger fiddle. Trueman studied physics at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, composition and theo ...

Tristan Perich Tristan Perich (born 1982) is a contemporary composer and sound artist from New York City who focuses on electronic one bit sound. Perich received his B.A. from Columbia University in 2004 and went on to earn a master's degree from New York Univer ...

Paul Lansky Paul Lansky (born June 18, 1944, in New York) is an American composer. Biography Paul Lansky (born 1944) is an American composer. He was educated at Manhattan's High School of Music and Art, Queens College and Princeton University, studying wit ...

, Steven Mackey, Shara Nova,

Martin Bresnick Martin Bresnick (born 1946) is a composer of contemporary classical music, film scores and experimental music. Education and early career Bresnick grew up in the Bronx, and is a graduate of New York City's specialized High School of Music and A ...

, Oscar Bettison, Evan Ziporyn, and

Arvo Pärt Arvo Pärt (; born 11 September 1935) is an Estonian composer of contemporary classical music. Since the late 1970s, Pärt has worked in a minimalist style that employs tintinnabuli, a compositional technique he invented. Pärt's music is in pa ...

. Originally formed when the members were students of

Robert van Sice Robert van Sice is an American percussionist and marimba player. He has toured and recorded extensively, currently teaches at the Yale School of Music (where he was appointed Director of Percussion Studies in 1997) and the Peabody Conservatory of ...

at the Yale School of Music, the group also continues to play works from the standard repertoire of percussion ensemble music—including works by composers such as

John Cage John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading fi ...

Julius Eastman Julius Eastman (October 27, 1940 – May 28, 1990) was an American composer, pianist, vocalist, and performance artist whose work is associated with musical minimalism. He was among the first composers to combine minimalist processes with elements ...

Pauline Oliveros Pauline Oliveros (May 30, 1932 – November 24, 2016) was an American composer, accordionist and a central figure in the development of post-war experimental and electronic music. She was a founding member of the San Francisco Tape Music Center ...

George Crumb George Henry Crumb Jr. (24 October 1929 – 6 February 2022) was an American composer of avant-garde contemporary classical music. Early in his life he rejected the widespread modernist usage of serialism, developing a highly personal musical ...

, and Iannis Xenakis. In addition to their work with composers, the members of Sō Percussion produce original music, including large scale evening-length works. The group is also known for their use of non-standard instruments and found sounds in performance and on recordings, such as scrap metal, rocks, flower pots, and an

amplified cactus An amplified cactus is a cactus plant (preferably a '' Denmoza'' or '' Geohintonia'') used as a musical instrument. It harnesses the acoustic properties of a cactus by applying contact microphones and amplifying their projection and tone. Vivien ...

. Sō Percussion has released albums on Cantaloupe Music, Nonesuch Records, Thrill Jockey, Brassland Records, and

New Amsterdam Records New Amsterdam Records is a record label in New York City that was formed in 2008 by Judd Greenstein, Sarah Kirkland Snider, and William Brittelle to promote classically trained musicians who fall between traditional genre boundaries. Often abbrev ...

. The group endorses Zildjian, Vic Firth, Remo and Pearl/ Adams.

Naming

The group's name was suggested by Jenise Treuting, Jason Treuting's sister. Jenise writes,

Collaborations

Sō Percussion frequently collaborates with other musicians and performers from around the world, including The National (appearing on Grammy-winning album '

Sleep Well Beast Sleep is a sedentary state of mind and body. It is characterized by altered consciousness, relatively inhibited sensory activity, reduced muscle activity and reduced interactions with surroundings. It is distinguished from wakefulness by a ...

'),

Buke and Gase Buke and Gase (formerly spelled Buke and Gass) ( and ) is a Brooklyn-based musical duo named after the musical instruments invented and built by founders Arone Dyer and Aron Sanchez; the ''buke'' is a six-string former-baritone ukulele and the ...

, Shara Nova, Dave Douglas, Matmos, Medeski Martin & Wood, Dan Deacon, The Dirty Projectors, Glenn Kotche, Bobby Previte
Kid Millions/Man Forever

Eli Keszler Eli Keszler is an American percussionist, composer, and visual artist based in New York City. Known for his complex and intricate style of drumming, as well creating sound installations involving piano wire and other mechanisms to accompany his l ...

Emily Johnson Emily Johnson (born March 19, 1976 in Soldotna, Alaska) is an American dancer, writer, and choreographer of Yup'ik descent. She grew up in Sterling, Alaska and is based in New York City. She is artistic director of her performance company, Emil ...

Ain Gordon Ain Gordon is an American playwright, theatrical director and actor based in New York City. His work frequently deals with the interstices of history, focusing on people and events which are often overlooked or marginalized in "official" hist ...

Shen Wei Shen Wei () is a Chinese-American choreographer, painter, and director who resides in New York City. Widely recognized for his defining vision of an intercultural and interdisciplinary mode of movement-based performance, Shen Wei creates origin ...

, and The Princeton Laptop Orchestra. Recent collaborative projects include the creation with Jad Abumrad of a score to the Radiolab story
The Heartbeat
" part of the episode "Radiolab Live: Telltale Hearts featuring Oliver Sacks," produced by Molly Webster and performed live by Sō Percussion at Brooklyn Academy of Music's "RadioLoveFest.". So Percussion worked with composer

West Dylan Thordson West Dylan Thordson is an American film composer. He is best known for his original scores to ''Joy'', '' The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst'', ''Foxcatcher'' and M. Night Shyamalan's ''Split'' and ''Glass Glass is a non-crystal ...

as contributing performers on the score of The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst, a 2015

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

documentary miniseries about Robert Durst.

Discography

* ''Sō Percussion'' (2004) * Steve Reich: ''Drumming'' (2005) * ''Amid the Noise'' (2006) *CD/DVD * ''Five (and-a-half) Gardens'' — with Trollstilt (2007) * ''Treasure State'' — with Matmos (2010) * Paul Lansky: ''Threads'' (2011) * Steve Reich: ''WTC 9/11'' - Mallet Quartet Recording (2011) *CD/DVD * Steve Mackey: ''It Is Time'' (2011) *CD/DVD * Martin Bresnick: ''Caprichos Enfaticos'' with Lisa Moore, piano (2011) * ''Bad Mango'' with Dave Douglas, trumpet (2011) * David Lang: ''The Woodmans - Music From the Film'' (2011) * ''Amid the Noise Remixes'' (2011) * Cage 100: Bootleg Series (2012) * ''Where (we) Live'' (2012) * ''neither Anvil nor Pulley'' (2013) * Cenk Ergun: ''Nana'' - Proximity Recording (2014) * Man Forever: ''Ryonen'' (2014) * Bobby Previte: ''TERMINALS'' (2014) * Bryce Dessner: ''Music for Wood and Strings'' (2015) * Glenn Kotche: ''Drumkit Quartets'' (2016) * Steve Reich and So Percussion: ''Drumming Live'' (2017) * Color Theory, with PRISM Sax Quartet (2017) * Dan Trueman: ''Songs That Are Hard to Sing'' - with JACK Quartet (2019) * ''A Record Of...'' - with Buke and Gase (2021) * Caroline Shaw: ''Narrow Sea'' - with Dawn Upshaw and Gil Kalish (2021) * Julius Eastman: ''Stay On It'' - with MEDIAQUEER, Adam Tendler, Beth Meyers, Grey Mcmurray, Shelley Washington & Alex Sopp (2021) * Paul Lansky: ''Angles'' (2021) * ''Steve Reich'' with NEXUS Percussion (2021) * ''Let The Soil Play Its Simple Part'' - with Caroline Shaw (2021) * ''Individuate'' - With Darian Thomas, Bergamot Quartet, Shelby Blezinger-McCay, and Kasey Blezinger (2022)

Education

Princeton University
Since 2014, the members of Sō Percussion have served as the Edward T. Cone performers-in-residence at Princeton University. The group has commissioned and recorded major works from Princeton composition faculty Steven Mackey,

, and

, as well as collaborating many times with the Princeton Sound Kitchen and Princeton Laptop Orchestra (PLOrk). Sō Percussion Summer Institute
The annual Sō Percussion Summer Institute (SōSI), founded in 2009, also takes place on Princeton's campus. The program features teaching and performing with the members of Sō Percussion and with Princeton faculty and student composers. Each year includes a number of concerts on Princeton's campus, in New York, outdoors in downtown Princeton, and in Small World coffee shop. Bard College Conservatory
Since 2011, members of Sō Percussion have served as co-directors of the percussion department at the

Bard College Conservatory of Music The Bard College Conservatory of Music is part of Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. Founded in 2005, the program is unique among music conservatories in the United States in that all undergraduate students are required to participa ...

. The program is a five-year double degree. Additional guest faculty for the program include

Jan Williams Jan Williams (born Jan Gardner Williams, July 17, 1939, in Utica, New York) is a percussionist, arts administrator, teacher, conductor, and composer who has championed avant-garde and progressive music in the United States. He is recognized as a ...

, Garry Kvistad, Tzong-Chin Ju, Greg Zuber, Daniel Druckman, and Jonathan Haas.

Original music

From Out a Darker Sea (2017)
From Out a Darker Sea explores the former coal mining communities of East Durham, UK in a collaboration with Forma Arts and

Amber Films Amber Film & Photography Collective (often shortened to Amber Films or Amber) is a film and photography collective based in Newcastle upon Tyne with an aim to capture working-class life in North East England. Often combining professional and non- ...

. A Gun Show (2016)
A Gun Show is an exploration of American gun culture using music, video, spoken text, and movement. The project was created collaboratively by the members of Sō Percussion together with director

and choreographer

. Where (we) Live (2013)
Where (we) Live was an original project exploring ideas about home and community, created together with guitarist Grey mcmurray, director

, choreographer

, and video designer Martin Schmidt. 2wice - Fifth Wall (2012)
Members of Sō Percussion composed the score for 'Fifth Wall' - an iPad-based performance by dancer Jonah Bokaer, published by dance magazine

2wice ''2wice'' is an interdisciplinary magazine dedicated to contemporary dance, visual and performing arts. Patsy Tarr is the founder and editor in chief of ''2wice'' and president of the 2wice Arts Foundation. The 2wice Arts Foundation is based in Ne ...

. Shen Wei - Undivided/Divided (2011)
The members of Sō Percussion composed the music for Undivided/Divided with choreographer

, which premiered at the Park Avenue Armory in November, 2011. Martin Kersels: 5 Songs (2010)
In 2010 the Whitney Museum commissioned the members of Sō Percussion to write new original music for performance in connection with

Martin Kersels Martin Kersels (born 1960) is an American contemporary artist. Kersels' work is largely installation based, incorporating sculpture, photography and video. Kersels is a professor of sculpture and director of graduate studies at the Yale School of ...

' sculpture project for the Whitney Biennial: 5 Songs. Imaginary City (2009)
Inspired by the Italo Calvino novel

Invisible Cities ''Invisible Cities'' ( it, Le città invisibili) is a novel by Italian writer Italo Calvino. It was published in Italy in 1972 by Giulio Einaudi Editore. Description The book explores imagination and the imaginable through the descriptions of ...

, Imaginary City used as inspiration the six cities that are home to the presenters that commissioned it: The

Brooklyn Academy of Music The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) is a performing arts venue in Brooklyn, New York City, known as a center for progressive and avant-garde performance. It presented its first performance in 1861 and began operations in its present location in ...

in Brooklyn, NY; The Myrna Loy Center in Helena, MT; The Cleveland Museum of Art in Cleveland, OH; The Flynn Center in Burlington, VT; Diverseworks Art Space in Houston, TX; and The Newman Center in Denver, CO. The project again included original video created by Jenise Treuting as well as theatrical direction by Rinde Eckert. Music for Trains (2008)
In 2008 Sō Percussion developed the Music for Trains project in southern Vermont. The month-long residency project centered around performances in and around the towns of

Brattleboro Brattleboro (), originally Brattleborough, is a town in Windham County, Vermont, United States. The most populous municipality abutting Vermont's eastern border with New Hampshire, which is the Connecticut River, Brattleboro is located about nor ...

and

Bellows Falls Bellows Falls is an incorporated village located in the town of Rockingham in Windham County, Vermont, United States. The population was 2,747 at the 2020 census. Bellows Falls is home to the Green Mountain Railroad, a heritage railroad; the ...

, including concerts in the train stations of those two towns, pre-recorded mp3 players listened to on the trains, and materials gathered from the local community. The project also included original video created by Jenise Treuting and an on-stage sculpture created by local artist Ahren Ahrenholz. Amid the Noise (2006)
A series of short pieces written by group member Jason Treuting, Amid the Noise was the first project of original music created and recorded by members of Sō Percussion. The project also features videos created by video artist Jenise Treuting, which were included in the CD/DVD release of 2006.

Awards

* ''Bessie Award for Outstanding Musical Composition/Sound Design'' - 2016 * ''American Music Center Trailblazer Award'' - 2011 * ''Chamber Music America/ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming'' - 2004, 2006, 2010 * ''ASCAP John Cage Award'' - 2009 * ''International Percussion Competition Luxembourg'' 2nd Place - 2005

Selected works commissioned

* Dennis DeSantis: ''Shifty'' (2000) * David Lang: ''the so-called laws of nature'' (2002) * Paul Lansky: ''Threads'' (2006) * Martin Bresnick: ''Caprichos Enfaticos'' (2007) * Steve Mackey: ''It Is Time'' (2010) * Dan Trueman: ''neither anvil nor pulley'' (2010) *

: ''Mallet Quartet'' (2010) * Bobby Previte: ''Terminals'' (2011) * Dan Deacon: ''Ghostbuster Cook: The Origin of the Riddler'' (2011) * Glenn Kotche: ''Drumkit Quartets'' (2011) * David Lang: ''man made'' (2013) * Bryce Dessner: ''Music for Wood and Strings'' (2013) * Shara Nova/So Percussion: ''Timeline'' (2015) * Paul Lansky: ''Springs'' (2016) * Caroline Shaw: ''Narrow Sea'' (2017) with Dawn Upshaw * Donnacha Dennehy: ''Broken Unison'' (2017) * Dan Trueman: ''Songs That Are Hard to Sing'' (2017) with JACK Quartet * Vijay Iyer: ''TORQUE'' (2018) * Angelica Negron: ''gone'' (2018) *

: ''Forbidden Love'' (2019)

References

External links

SoPercussion.comFacebook PageSo Percussion on TwitterSo Percussion on InstagramSo Percussion on YouTubeVic Firth Artist PageZildjian Artist PageAlliance Artist Management Artist PageCantaloupe Records Artist PageOtherARTS
at the Peabody Conservatory fo
Aural States
(Sept 2009) {{Authority control So Percussion Musical groups from Brooklyn Nonesuch Records artists