NEXUS Bob Becker, Bill Cahn, Robin Engelman, Russell Hartenberger, Garry Kvistad Premieres Two Major Works for Percussion September 2007 NEXUS, the Toronto-based percussion quintet, has been credited with expanding the modern percussion ensemble’s world of possibilities. Since the group’s first all improvised concert in 1971 NEXUS has performed its music in solo recitals and with… Read more »
Toronto Summer Music Academy and Festival – “A Night at the Movies”
Toronto Summer Music Academy and Festival
“A Night at the Movies”
August 2007 – University of Toronto
Bob’s interview with Leigh Howard Stevens
The following interview was conducted at the request of the Percussive Arts Society, and appeared in the August, 1996 issue of Percussive Notes. LHS: Let’s get this important question out of the way in the very beginning. Everybody who knows anything about xylophone knows you are not only the greatest living xylophonist, but also the… Read more »
Bill Cahn Interview by Joe Spurlock
The following interview with Bill Cahn occurred in November 2007 at the request of Joe Spurlock, a student of percussion at Ohio State University. Q1. Very much of your music is influenced by other cultures, specifically eastern ones. How did you come about these influences and what intrigues you so about them to make them… Read more »
Teaching Total Percussion
(Stressing The Fundamentals : Getting a Good Sound with a Relaxed Technique) Presented by Bill Cahn – member of NEXUS Time: 60 minutes Requirements: bass drum on a cradle, xylophone, glockenspiel, 2 tables, 4 music stands Fundamental Principles for Selection and Setup of Percussion Instruments: 1. Have a variety of instruments to increase musical options;… Read more »
Percussion & Pianos Rule at The Ojai Music Festival – June 2007
June 13, 2007 NEXUS Jan Williams, Thomas Morris, Robin Engelman, Garry Kvistad, Peter Eötvös, Bob Becker, Russell Hartenberger, Bill Cahn Percussion & Pianos Rule at The Ojai Music Festival June 8 – 10, 2007 In each of four diverse programs at the Ojai (CA) Music Festival, NEXUS, the internationally acclaimed percussion quintet, brought audiences to… Read more »
Ojai Reviews – June 2007
ARTICLES / BLOG ENTRIES DURING THE FESTIVAL Out West Arts blogspot Ojai Day 2 June 11, 2007 Sometimes I wonder why I go to the Ojai festival. I hate sitting outdoors in the sun, or even worse, freezing at night. Nor is sitting on a hard bench for up to 6 hours a day my… Read more »
New Pieces Available!
William L. Cahn Publishing 8740 Wesley Road Bloomfield, New York 14469 Tel./Fax: (585) 582-2508 Email: billcahn@aol.com Website: www.nexuspercussion.com_______________________________ Recent Releases 1. Night Ride – scored for timpanist (4 timpani) and 4 percussionists (2 marimbas, vibraphone, glock, sus. cym. and 4 tuned gongs. Previewed at PASIC ’05; now also published in Japan by Komaki Music (@¥5000… Read more »
Practice – Q. + A.
by Bill Cahn – member of NEXUS The form in which we ask our questions will determine the answers we get. To put it more broadly: all the knowledge we ever have is a result of questions. Indeed, it is commonplace among scientists that they do not see nature as it is, but only through… Read more »
Authority and motivation in the symphony orchestra
A Symphony Musician’s Point of View by William L. Cahn © 1992 William L. Cahn, 8740 Wesley Road, Bloomfield, NY 14469 All Rights Reserved For the performing musician, symphony orchestras represent perhaps the greatest paradox in the state of art music in the late twentieth century. On the one hand these venerable institutions – born… Read more »
Social and Economic Issues in 2004 and Their Impact on the Arts
Preface – In the 20th century world of specialization, artists found their position in society as the purveyors of new possibilities through open and free thought – from Picasso and Stravinsky to Jackson Pollock and Karlheinz Stockhausen. Having broken away from the intellectual boundaries of the Victorian era, their artistic direction, known as the… Read more »
Ojai Music Festival 2007 – Intro in the Ventura County Reporter Online
Madness, beauty and the big bang: A look at the 2007 Ojai Music Festival, By Kit Stolz (Ventura County Reporter Online) The Ojai Music Festival, now in its 61st year, has long been known as one of the finest classical music festivals in Southern California and the nation. The performances at Libbey Bowl cost a… Read more »
Photos from the National Film Board Session – June 2007
National Film Board Recording Session – June 27, 2007 CBC Studios – Toronto
NEXUS with The Pacific Symphony Orchestra – June 2007
June 7, 2007 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… Read more »
Ojai Music Festival 2007 – Intro in the Ventura County Star
Ventura County Star, California By Charles Levin Thursday, June 7, 2007 Ojai Music Festival When: June 7-10 When the ensemble NEXUS formed in 1971, a stage filled with nothing but drums, xylophones and more exotic percussion fare was an anomaly, sometimes regarded as a novelty and often confined to music conservatories. That reality has changed…. Read more »
