Livestreams & Broadcasts
Concertgebouw Amsterdam | October 2021
Steve Reich: Tehillim; Traveler's Prayer; Music for 18 Musicians
Colin Currie Group, Synergy Vocals
Colin Currie (conductor)
Click to watch on YouTube
Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra | November 2020
Tan Dun: Water Concerto for Water Percussion and Orchestra
Esa-Pekka Salonen (conductor)
Click to watch on YLE Areena
Scottish Chamber Orchestra | May 2021
Einojuhani Rautavaara: Incantations
James MacMillan (conductor)
Click to watch on YouTube
Concerto repertoire
For symphony orchestra or chamber orchestra
Kalevi Aho
Sieidi
Andy Akiho
Percussion Concerto
John Corigliano
Conjurer
Joe Duddell
Ruby
Tan Dun
Concerto for Water Percussion
Danny Elfman
Percussion Concerto
Peter Eötvös
Speaking Drums
Helen Grime
Percussion Concerto
HK Gruber
Into the open...
Rough Music
Jennifer Higdon
Percussion Concerto
Simon Holt
a table of noises
Robert Honstein
Juvenalia
Nicole Lizee
Blurr is the Colour of My True Love's Eyes (premiere 2022)
Tania León
New concerto (premiere 2025)
Steven Mackey
Time Release
James MacMillan
Veni, Veni Emmanuel
Percussion Concerto No. 2
Bruno Mantovani
Allegro barbaro
Dave Maric
Towards Future's Embrace
Olga Neuwirth
Trurliade-Zone Zero
Andrew Norman
Switch
Einojuhani Rautavaara
Incantations
Joey Roukens
Percussion Concerto
Christopher Rouse
Der gerettete Alberich
Mark-Anthony Turnage
Martland Memorial
Julia Wolfe
Body Language
Iannis Xenakis
Aïs (baritone, percussion and orchestra)
For mixed ensemble or string ensemble
Louis Andriessen
Tapdance
Luke Bedford
Staggered Nocturne (premiere 2022)
Elliott Carter
Two Controversies and a Conversation
Joe Duddell
Snowblind
Philippe Hurel
Quatre Variations (vibraphone and ensemble)
Dave Maric
Lifetimes
Kurt Schwertsik
Now you hear me, now you don't (string orchestra)
Conductors
Marin Alsop
Andrey Boreyko
Dougie Boyd
Martyn Brabbins
Baldur Brönnimann
Alpesh Chauhan
Simon Crawford-Phillips
David Danzmeyer
Thomas Dausgaard
Tan Dun
JoAnn Falletta
Thierry Fischer
Michael Francis
Fabien Gabel
James Gaffigan
Edward Gardner
HK Gruber
Giancarlo Guerrero
Matthew Halls
Håkan Hardenberger
Miguel Harth-Bedoya
Antony Hermus
Manfred Honeck
Pietari Inkinen
George Jackson
Carlos Kalmar
Francois Leleux
Hannu Lintu
Brad Lubman
Christian Macelaru
Sir James MacMillan
Bruno Mantovani
Juanjo Mena
David Alan Miller
Gemma New
Yannick Nézet-Séguin
Eva Ollikainen
Sakari Oramo
Andrés Orozco-Estrada
Ruth Reinhardt
Andre de Ridder
David Robertson
François-Xavier Roth
Peter Rundel
Kwame Ryan
Donald Runnicles
Yutaka Sado
Esa-Pekka Salonen
Jukka-Pekka Saraste
Clemens Schuldt
Alexander Shelley
Leonard Slatkin
Dima Slobodeniouk
Chloé van Soeterstède
Tugan Sokhiev
Thomas Søndergård
Carl St Clair
John Storgårds
Frank Strobel
Rebecca Tong
Bramwell Tovey
Osmo Vänskä
Gilbert Varga
Ilan Volkov
Joshua Weilerstein
Ludwig Wicki
John Wilson
Colin Currie Quartet
The Colin Currie Quartet was formed in 2018 to present the diverse music written for percussion quartet. Comprising Colin Currie, Owen Gunnell, Adrian Spillett and Sam Walton (also core members of the Colin Currie Group), the Quartet performs a variety of adventurous works, centring on those by Steve Reich and composers inspired by his influential writing. 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 to collectively present “a sonic display of startling magnificence” (Observer).
Recent highlights include performances at the BBC Proms, Wigmore Hall, Paris Présences Festival, GAIDA Festival, East Neuk Festival, Stoller Hall, Norfolk & Norwich Festival, Dublin Chamber Music Festival, NCPA Beijing, Toolbox Hong Kong, Nagakute Cultural Center, NCPA Beijing and across the UK. Future performances include a number of premieres of new works by Guillaume Connesson, Anna Meredith, Freya Waley-Cohen, Ben Nobuto and Aileen Sweeney. During the 23/24 season, the Colin Currie Quartet present a new programme at the Wigmore Hall, perform at the Royal Welsh College and give a Scottish tour supported by Chamber Music Scotland.
Programmes
Andy Akiho Pillar I
Dave Maric Nascent Forms
Freya Waley-Cohen New work (premiere 23/24)
interval
Steve Reich Mallet Quartet
Amy Beth Kirsten May The Devil Take Me
Andy Akiho Pillar IV
John Luther Adams Qilyuan
Rolf Wallin Twine
David Lang So Called Laws of Nature Part 2
interval
Steve Reich Drumming Part 1
Connor Shafran Continental Divide
Julia Wolfe Dark Full Ride
Michael Gordon XY (Colin solo drums)
David Lang So Called Laws of Nature (quartet)
interval
David Lang String of Pearls (Colin solo marimba)
Julia Wolfe Dark Full Ride (quartet)
“A sonic display of startling magnificence… The centrepiece was Drumming, tuned bongos impeccably synchronised, slipping and looping in and out of phase... Julia Wolfe’s Dark Full Ride, crackling, eruptive, dangerous, made a noisy and spectacular finale.” Observer
"I have previously described Currie and his friends as daredevils and super-heroes, for their bravura performances of Xenakis." Bachtrack
"In the opening number for wooden frame drums, John Luther Adams’ Qilyaun, the performers stood at all four corners of the auditorium balcony, sending out waves of unruly noise through rolling crescendos and decrescendos... at times it felt as if we were caught in a storm swirling round a vast open landscape, while at others a more synchronised regular beat filled the room with a sense of ritual." Arts Desk
Film Gallery: Colin Currie Quartet
Solo Recital
Solo Percussion Recital
Elliott Carter Figment V
Per Norgaard Fire Over Water
Toshio Hosokawa Reminiscence
Bruno Mantovani Moi, jeu...
Interval
Iannis Xenakis Rebonds B
Karlheinz Stockhausen Vibra-Elufa
Rolf Wallin Realismos Mágicos
"His words set expectations high, and his performance exceeded them…. Currie’s white mallets blurred as they raced over bongos and tom-toms, both arms and one foot maintaining distinct rhythms. He moved with taut physicality and fierce focus, tweaking each limb’s pattern and prominence, phasing them in and out… He bowed with a smile, having rocked the house and raised the roof."
Boston Globe, December 2016
"a blistering and mesmeric performance... He erupted onto the stage, launching his programme to explosive effect with Per Norgards’ Fire over Water... The relative peace of Hosakawa’s Remembrance evoked an altogether different world, as did the wonderful mercurial qualities of both Stockhausen’s Vibra-Elufa and Ralf Wallin’s dazzling miniatures, Realismos magicos. And that was Currie’s playing: magical and dazzling to eye and ear, climaxing in the classic drum battle that is Xenakis’ Rebonds B."
Glasgow Herald, November 2016
“An evening of wonders at Wigmore Hall… Rolling tremolandos gave an effect of aural marbling, with Currie’s dexterity and control of dynamic fluctuation as awe-inspiring as the piece itself."
Times
“Currie played this virtuoso half-hour of music on instruments from tom-toms to south Asian temple blocks from memory... Currie’s virtuosity energised all and the young audience was hugely enthusiastic.”
Financial Times
Chamber projects
Colin Currie & Håkan Hardenberger
Trumpet and Percussion Duo
Joe Duddell Catch
Tobias Brostrom Dream Variations
Toshio Hosokawa Reminiscence (solo percussion)
Toru Takemitsu Paths (solo trumpet)
HK Gruber Passing the Buck
Brett Dean ...the scene of the crime...
“A breathtaking performance… Both players exhibited stunning virtuosity, though always at the service of musical effect, never for its own sake.” San Francisco Classical Voice
Colin Currie & JACK Quartet
programme includes:
Suzanne Farrin Hypersea (percussion & string quartet)
Andy Akiho Aluminous (percussion & string quartet)
Steve Martland Starry Night (percussion & string quartet)
Colin Currie & Huw Watkins (percussion & piano)
Dave Maric Predicaments
Britten Holiday Diary (solo piano)
Joe Duddell Parallel Lines
Interval
Hannah Lash C
Tansy Davies Dark Ground (solo percussion)
Helen Grime Harp of the North (solo piano)
Huw Watkins Seven Inventions
Colin Currie & Nicholas Hodges (percussion & piano)
Birtwistle Intrada for piano and percussion
Stockhausen Klavierstück V (piano)
Birtwistle Variations from the Golden Mountain (piano)
Feldman King of Denmark (percussion)
Birtwistle Intrada for piano and percussion
Interval
Stockhausen Kontakte (piano & percussion)
“The combined genius of pianist Nicholas Hodges and percussionist Colin Currie, armed with a battery of percussion and piano, made thrilling theatre out of it, amplifying the electronic cues with a visceral immediacy that brought every moment to life. The entire presentation was directional, engaging and unquestionable proof that Stockhausen was not only onto something, but way ahead of the game.” Scotsman
Colin Currie & Sam Walton (percussion), Pavel Kolesnikov & Samson Tsoy (piano)
Ravel: Rhapsody Espanol M.54 for two pianos and two percussion
Rolf Wallin: Realismos mágicos (solo marimba)
Piano duo work
Interval
Bryce Dessner: Tromp Miniature (solo marimba)
Piano duo work
Bartók: Sonata for Two Pianos & Percussion
GramophoneColin Currie is at the summit of percussion performance today.
Guardian...the work confirms Currie’s status as an athlete and a star, as well as an outstanding musician.
SpectatorThe soloist was Colin Currie, surely the world’s finest and most daring percussionist.