Led by Colin Currie, 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. The Colin Currie Group has since performed Drumming and other Reich works around the world, and in recent years have expanded their repertoire to include Mark-Anthony Turnage, Steve Martland, Guillaume Connesson and Iannis Xenakis. They made their concertante debut at the 2019 Edinburgh International Festival performing Sofia Gubaidulina’s Glorious Percussion with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.

In 2014, Colin Currie Group premiered Quartet at the Southbank Centre in London, the first in a collection of works written for them by Steve Reich. A major highlight of recent seasons is the critically acclaimed world premiere of Reich Traveler’s Prayer in 2021, which they toured to The Concertgebouw, Royal Festival Hall, Philharmonie de Paris, Hamburg Elbphilharmonie, Carnegie Hall, Cal Performances and Tokyo Opera City.

In the 2026/27 season, the Group will celebrate Steve Reich’s 90th birthday, giving the world premiere of In All Your Ways at the Edinburgh International Festival, written by Reich to mark this anniversary. The work is co-commissioned by NTR Zaterdag Matinee, The Barbican, Philharmonie de Paris and Hamburg Elbphilharmonie, with further performances still to be announced.

In other highlights of the 2026/27 season, Colin Currie Group will return to the BBC Proms performing Reich’s Tehillim, a work they also perform at Oxford’s Schwarzmann Centre. The Glasshouse will host a major weekend celebration of Steve Reich in October 2026, which has been curated by Colin Currie and features the Group performing two programmes including Music for Mallet Instruments, Voices and Organ and Music for 18 Musicians. This piece will also feature on their programme at Philharmonie Luxembourg, where the Group make their debut this season.

Colin Currie Group recently released their latest album on Colin Currie Records, Steve Reich: The Sextets, which brings together Reich’s complete works for sextet forces onto a single album for the first time. Previous releases on the label include Steve Reich’s Music for 18 Musicians (2023), Live at Fondation Louis Vuitton (2019) and the highly successful debut album Drumming (2018). Colin Currie Group has also released recordings of Quartet and Traveler’s Prayer on Nonesuch.

2025 - 26 season / 508 words. Not to be altered without permission