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About

  • Colin Currie Group is a virtuosic ensemble that specialises in the music of Steve Reich. Their performances of Reich’s music have been hailed by the composer as “the best I’ve ever heard”.

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  • Led by Colin Currie ("the world’s finest and most daring percussionist", Spectator), the hand-picked ensemble was formed in 2006 for a performance of Drumming at the BBC Proms to celebrate the 70th birthday of Steve Reich. In the subsequent decade, the Colin Currie Group have performed Drumming around the world. They have expanded their repertoire to include many of Reich’s most popular works, including Music for 18 MusiciansSextetTehillim and Music for Pieces of Wood and are privileged to have frequently had the composer present when rehearsing and performing these works. 


    A major season highlight are the US and West Coast premieres of a Steve Reich Traveler’s Prayer, which the Group perform at Carnegie Hall and Cal Performance’s Zellerbach Hall in November, with a further co-commissioned premiere to follow at Tokyo Opera City later this season. In October and November 2021 the group toured the world premiere of the work to critical acclaim, with performances at The Concertgebouw, Royal Festival Hall, The Elbphilharmonie and Philharmonie de Paris. The Group have previously premiered Steve Reich’s Quartet in 2014 (for two pianos and two vibraphones), dedicated by Reich to Colin Currie. Since the premiere of Quartet at London’s Southbank Centre, the group have given multiple performances of this work, including across the UK, Europe, Asia and America.


    This season, the Group also honour the 100th anniversary of the birth of Iannis Xenakis with a performance of his percussive masterwork Pléïades in a joint programme with the JACK Quartet at London’s Southbank Centre in October.


    The Colin Currie Group performs regularly at London’s Southbank Centre and have appeared in concert at major halls and festivals worldwide at Shanghai MISA Festival, Esplanade Concert Hall, Singapore, Paris Cité de la Musique, Fondation Louis Vuitton, Cologne Philharmonie, Rotterdam De Doelen, Helsinki Festival, Macau Festival, Saffron Hall, the Barbican Centre and made their concertante debut at the 2019 Edinburgh International Festival performing Gubaidulina Glorious Percussion under the baton of Thomas Dausgaard with BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.


    Recent recording highlights include the release on Colin Currie Records of their second album of selected works by Steve Reich, taken from a residency at Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris in December 2017. The disc includes works such as Pulse, Proverb and Clapping Music performed by Colin Currie and Steve Reich. The recording received outstanding reviews and was selected for Best New Classical Albums by Gramophone, following on from their highly successful debut release Drumming in 2018, and their release of Quartet on Nonesuch in 2019.

    2022/23 season, 448 words. Not to be altered without permission.

Performances

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Colin Currie Quartet

The Colin Currie Quartet was formed in 2018 by Colin Currie to present the diverse works written for percussion quartet. Comprising of Colin Currie, Owen Gunnell, Adrian Spillett and Sam Walton, the players form the core of the Colin Currie Group, and in this new collective they perform works by Steve Reich and branch out into other composers who have been swept along by that highly influential force.


As some of the world’s leading solo, symphonic and chamber percussionists each player of the quartet brings a different and insightful slant to the art of chamber percussion performance. Recent highlights include performances at the NCPA Beijing, BBC Proms and Wigmore Hall, amongst others. A dominant premiere in their first season was a substantial new work for four marimbas by Kevin Volans, and the group will be adding substantially to its repertoire in the coming years.


Click here to watch the Quartet's trailer.


Sample Programme
Andy Akiho Pillar I
Freya Waley-Cohen New Work (premiere 2024)
Andy Akiho Pillar IV
interval
Steve Reich Mallet Quartet
Julia Wolfe Dark Full Ride


“It's not possible to play this piece more vibrantly and precisely than these four did."
Arts Desk

Programme suggestions

The Colin Currie Group is a flexible ensemble ranging from 4 to 30 musicians and can offer a wide range of programmes, often collaborating with Synergy Vocals. Below are some examples, which can be interchanged and adapted freely.


Steve Reich Tehillim
Steve Reich Traveler’s Prayer
interval
Steve Reich Music for 18 Musicians
~
Steve Reich Quartet
Steve Reich Sextet
interval
Steve Reich Eight Lines
Steve Reich Double Sextet
~
Steve Reich Quartet
Steve Reich Eight Lines
interval
Steve Reich Traveler's Prayer
Steve Reich Double Sextet
~
Mark-Anthony Turnage Sextet – premiere summer 2023
Julia Wolfe Dark Full Ride
interval
Steve Reich Drumming 
~
George Crumb Kronos – Kryptos
Mark-Anthony Turnage Sextet – premiere summer 2023
interval
Iannis Xenakis Pléïades
~
Steve Reich Music for Pieces of Wood
Steve Reich Mallet Quartet
Steve Reich Drumming Part I
interval
Julia Wolfe Dark Full Ride
Mark-Anthony Turnage Sextet – premiere summer 2023

Catherine Gibbs
Associate Director
+44 20 7608 9946
cgibbs@intermusica.com

Kate Caro
Head of imagine
+44 207 608 9932
kcaro@intermusica.com

Maebh Lehane
Manager, imagine
+44 20 7608 9924
mlehane@intermusica.com

Eleanor Philpott
Assistant Artist and Project Manager, imagine
+44 20 7608 9918
ephilpott@intermusica.com

If you have any queries, please fill in the form below, and we will be in touch soon