At the pinnacle of his legendary career, performer and pedagogue Robert van Sice has assembled a stunning collection of young artists who are reinventing the concert experience. The Percussion Collective transcends the medium of percussion through uncommon performance experiences that surprise and engage audiences at a profound emotional level. The hallmarks of van Sice’s musical approach—precise execution, sonic refinement, and dynamic onstage communication—are all on display in the most vivid manner to date. Drawing from an incomparably rich bouquet of talent, The Percussion Collective flexes in size offering exquisitely curated programs for an array of venues and settings. The fabulously successful ten concert inaugural tour of the United States in the Spring of 2018 featured the first performances of the newly commissioned Seaborne, an immersive multimedia work by Emmy Award-winning composer Garth Neustadter and videographer Kjell van Sice that celebrates the beauty of our world’s oceans.
The 2018-2019 season began with the group’s first tour to China in October ‘18, featuring performances of Seaborne in the new Shanghai Symphony Hall, the stunning Jiangjsu Grand Theatre at Nanjing University, and the beautiful temple in Beijing. The tour was received with critical acclaim:
“The extraordinary Percussion Collective…brought the audience a level of artistry, beauty, and insight more commonly found in great string quartets.” - Beijing Morning Post, October 2018
In March and in a performance presented by the Yellow Barn Music Festival, The Collective performed Martin Bresnick’s Caprichos Enfaticos at the Nasher Sculpture Garden in Dallas, Texas. This powerful work is based on Francisco Goya's etchings depicting the horrors of war. The Percussion Collective was joined by Yellow Barn's Artistic Director, Seth Knopp.
“This was truly masterful performing, and it is a lesson in getting capacity crowds to contemporary music performances.” - Theater Jones Reviews, March 2019
A performance with the Oregon Symphony and maestro Carlos Kalmar saw The Percussion Collective’s first orchestral showcase and the world premiere of Christopher Theofinidis’s Drum Circles. In this piece, four members of The Collective and the orchestra’s own percussion section surrounded the orchestra in a circle, creating a spatial and theatrical effect.
“A phenomenally exciting world premiere performance of Drum Circles by American composer Chris Theofinidis.” - Northwest Reverb, November 2018
The 2019-2020 season will begin with The Collective visiting the Aspen Music Festival in August, where they will perform Drum Circles. Following performances include the Baltimore Symphony, Colorado Symphony, Curtis Symphony Orchestra, and Hartford Symphony. Residencies at The University of Nebraska, UT Austin, and the world premiere of Seaborne with Orchestra with maestro Teddy Abrams and the Louisville Orchestra. In the spring of 2020, The Percussion Collective will make its first appearance in Europe, with a tour through the Musikverein in Vienna, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, and the Purcell Hall in London. A first recording of Seaborne that includes both the audio and visual components will also take place later in the 2020 season.
The roster of The Percussion Collective includes some of the world’s most esteemed and dynamic young voices in the art form. They are drawn from the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Camerata Pacifica, the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble as well as faculty members from universities such as Miami’s Frost School of Music, Michigan State University, the University of Massachusetts, Vanderbilt’s Blair School of Music, and the University of Kansas. Featuring players from Europe, Asia, and the US, this new generation of virtuosi represent the leading edge of innovation in concert conception and performance.
Jeff Stern, percussion
