Juilliard Percussion Ensemble, Led by Daniel Druckman, Performs Cage and Xenakis on Monday, February 3, 2020, at 7:30pm in the Peter Jay Sharp Theater

NEW YORK –– The Juilliard Percussion Ensemble, led by director Daniel Druckman, will perform John Cage’s Second Construction, First Construction (In Metal), and Third Construction as well as Xenakis’ Pléïades on Monday, February 3, 2020, at 7:30pm in the Peter Jay Sharp Theater. 

Free tickets are available at the Juilliard Box Office. For further information, go to juilliard.edu/calendar.

Juilliard Percussion Ensemble members are Jacob Borden, Christopher Choi, Benjamin Cornavaca, Omar El-Abidin, Toby Grace, Simon Herron, Harrison Honor, Mizuki Morimoto, Euijin Jung, Yoon Jun Kim, Stella Perlic, Jakob Schoenfeld, Leo Simon, Tanner Tanyeri, and Yibing Wang.

About the Program

John Cage was born on September 5, 1912 in Los Angeles and died in New York City on August 12, 1992. He studied liberal arts for a few years at Pomona College before leaving to travel to Europe and, ultimately, study composition with, among others, Henry Cowell and Arnold Schoenberg. Cage was elected to the American National Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters and received numerous awards and honors, both in the U.S. and in Europe. His Second Construction, for percussion quartet, was composed in 1940 and had its premiere in Portland, Oregon, in 1940. The work is for percussion quartet. The instruments used are mostly metal and skin, and Cage also included a prepared piano. Cage’s composer his First Construction (In Metal) in 1939, and the piece had its premiere that year in Seattle. The work is for percussion sextet with an assistant. Standard as well as many unconventional instruments are used, including eight anvils, a water gong, and four car brake drums. Cage’s Third Construction premiered in 1941 at the California Club Auditorium in San Francisco and was performed by Xenia Cage, Doris Dennison, Lou Harrison, and Margaret Jansen, conducted by John Cage.

Iannis Xenakis invented his own instruments for Pléïades, a colossal 45-minute work for percussion ensemble, including an instrument called the sixxen that he created solely for this work. The four-movement Pléïades for six percussionists, was commissioned for Les Percussions de Strasbourg and had its premiere in 1978.

About Daniel Druckman

Percussionist Daniel Druckman is active as a soloist, chamber, orchestral musician as well as a recording artist. He has appeared in concert throughout the U.S., Europe, and Japan; in recital in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Tokyo; and as a soloist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, American Composer’s Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic’s Horizons concerts, and the San Francisco Symphony’s New and Unusual Music series. He has been a member of the New York Philharmonic since 1991, serving as associate principal percussionist, and has made numerous guest appearances with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Da Capo Chamber Players, American Brass Quintet, Orpheus, Steve Reich and Musicians, and the Group for Contemporary Music. Druckman has also participated in chamber music festivals in Santa Fe, Ravinia, Saratoga, Caramoor, Bridgehampton, Tanglewood, and Aspen. An integral part of New York’s new music community, both as soloist and as a member of the New York New Music Ensemble, he has premiered works by Steve Reich, Elliott Carter, Jacob Druckman, Aaron Jay Kernis, Oliver Knussen, Poul Ruders, Milton Babbitt, Ralph Shapey, and Charles Wuorinen, among many others. He has also collaborated with Gilbert Kalish and Wu Han at the Chamber Music Society, Leif Ove Andsnes at Zankel Hall, and Colin Currie at Carnegie Hall. Druckman is chair of Juilliard’s percussion department and director of its Percussion Ensemble. Born and raised in New York City, he received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Juilliard in 1980. He also studied at the Berkshire Music Center at Tanglewood.

About the Juilliard Percussion Ensemble

The Juilliard Percussion Ensemble was founded in the late 1960s by Saul Goodman and has since been led by Roland Kohloff and its current music director Daniel Druckman. The ensemble appears annually at Alice Tully Hall, where in recent seasons it has performed percussion music from China; explored works by Gerard Grisley, Beat Furrer, and Rolf Wallin; celebrated the 85th birthday of George Crumb; surveyed the works of the founders of Bang on a Can: Michael Gordon, David Lang, and Julia Wolfe; and honored the 50th anniversary of the influential percussion group, Les Percussions de Strasbourg, by performing three seminal works from its extensive repertoire. Last season, the ensemble performed works by composers associated with Princeton University. The ensemble has appeared in concert throughout the New York area, including guest appearances at the Danish Wave festival at Merkin Hall, New Works/October series at Miller Theatre, Cutting Edge series at Greenwich House, and at Carnegie Hall in several Perspectives performances curated by Maurizio Pollini and Leif Ove Andsnes. In 2014 the ensembleperformed Steve Reich’s Drumming with Colin Currie and in 2016 joined forces with Juilliard’s AXIOM ensemble for a celebration of Reich’s 80th birthday, performing Double Sextet, Mallet Quartet, City Life, and Music for Mallet Instruments, Voices, and Organ.

Program Listing:
Monday, February 3, 2020, 7:30pm, Peter Jay Sharp Theater
Juilliard Percussion Ensemble
Daniel Druckman, Director

John Cage             Second Construction (1940)
Cage                      First Construction (In Metal) (1939)
Cage                      Third Construction (1941)
Iannis Xenakis       Pléïades (1978)

Free tickets are available at the Juilliard Box Office. For further information, go to juilliard.edu/calendar.

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