NEXUS

Bob Becker, Bill Cahn, Robin Engelman, Russell Hartenberger, Garry Kvistad

with The Pacific Symphony Orchestra

Carl St.Clair, conducting

May 31, June 1 & 2, 2007

In three performances with the Pacific Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Carl St.Clair, NEXUS, the internationally acclaimed percussion quintet, performed Toru Takemitsu’s ‘From me flows what you call Time’, which was commissioned in 1990 by Carnegie Hall for NEXUS and the Boston Symphony Orchestra.  Since the work’s premiere, NEXUS has presented the Takemitsu piece in nearly 90 performances with orchestras all over the world.  In 1997 the work  was recorded by NEXUS and the P.S.O. on the SONY Classical CD label.  This was the third appearance by NEXUS with the P.S.O., and the program also included Steve Reich’s ‘Music for Pieces of Wood’ and a piece titled, ‘Tongues,’ based on  traditional music from Zimbabwe.

About these NEXUS performances of ‘From me flows what you call Time’ the press said:

“On Wednesday, the 36-year-old ensemble was at the top of its game. [NEXUS] effortlessly performed (and from memory) on an immense battery of Euro-American, Afro-Caribbean and Asian bells, gongs, temple bowls, drums, chimes, rattles, boo-bams (tuned logs), marimbas and more. . . Steve Reich’s eight-minute Minimalist ˜Music for Pieces of Wood’ (1973) – five pairs of different-pitched claves – exuded mesmerizing liveliness amid its superb exactness.’ (Los Angeles Times, June 2, 2007)

About past NEXUS performances of ‘From me flows what you call Time’:

“(Takemitsu) . . . has written an exotic showpiece for NEXUS, and the work casts a hypnotic spell as these five adept musicians take their mallets to a daunting array of bells, drums, marimbas and wind chimes . . . It is a strangely beautiful, lushly erotic work . . . a performance that seemed well-nigh ideal.” (Louisville Courier Journal)

“. . . the best thing was this Canadian percussion group. Their unbelievable delicacy of feeling and rich expression were something just beyond my words. They were not only performers but also a part of the piece itself.” (Nihon Keizai Shinbun, Toyko Japan)

Nexus acknowledges the support of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council.