Brass and Percussion is a match made in heaven. So it is no surprise that the Canadian Brass decided to include percussion – and LOTS of it! – in their upcoming recording. Keep an eye on the CB’s website for future updates on the recording and its availability. The recording session took place just last… Read more »

When things are quiet on the Blog, you can be sure that things are hopping behind the scenes! NEXUS is deep into rehearsal for the much-anticipated premiere of the legendary Steve Reich’s new Mallet Quartet. Watch for it on April 29th here in Toronto under the auspices of Soundstreams Canada.

It’s January 15, 2010 (Japan time) – the last day of my 2-week residency at the Showa Academy of Music. This has been my seventh such residency since 1998 – the third time at the school’s new campus facility in Kawasaki. The old campus was in Atsugi, about another 40 minutes southwest away from Tokyo… Read more »

It has been a long time since I last saw the Mummers Parade on New Year’s Day in Philadelphia.  It was probably when I was in the 6th grade or so.  This year, on a whim, I asked Ruth if she would like to go to Philadelphia for New Year’s day and she said, “yes,”… Read more »

Allan Kozinn has an excellent article on percussion in Sunday’s New York Times (December 27th). It is called Percussionists Go From Background to Podium, and he talks of the major percussionists and percussion ensembles at work today. Check it out here.

Just before Christmas, I turned the page of the art calendar on my desk and was surprised to see a piece called The Bird’s Concert, (circa 1600) by Frans Snyders. Of course, I immediately thought of Bill Cahn’s piece The Birds that features the calls of Snyders’ birds plus a few dozen more! You can… Read more »

December is a time of celebration. And NEXUS has plenty to celebrate! This month we have confirmed several new dates – (and more are under discussion, so check back for updates!) In the New Year, you will find NEXUS performing in Ontario, Canada in March. In April NEXUS will be performing the Canadian premiere of… Read more »

Dosa, Sambar, Indian coffee, and badam kheer; Ta Di Thom Num, moras, teermanams, and korvai ; humility, warmth, caring, and love.  These are all enduring memories I have of the beloved Ramnad V. Raghavan.  Raghavan passed away last week in Chennai, India at the age of 82. He taught mrdangam and South Indian music at… Read more »

By now you will have seen Robin Engelman’s blog post announcing that he will be leaving NEXUS. As you can imagine, it has been an emotional week. As a founding member of the group, Robin has been with NEXUS since the very beginning, and his wife Eleanor was the group’s administrator for decades, too. NEXUS… Read more »

On October 31, 2009 I had the pleasure of performing in the John Cage Symposium at Bard College, located in Annanndale-on-Hudson, New York.  Along with Bob Becker, Russell Hartenberger, Garry Kvistad, and special guest, Jason Treuting of So Percussion, we immersed ourselves in a program of Cage’s music for percussion instruments, including the piano, played… Read more »