Steve Reich was born in New York, raised there and California, and has spent much of his life in the City. He has also been spending time in Vermont for more than three decades. Vermont Public Radio spoke with the composer about his career and how the quiet of Vermont has influenced his writing. He was in Massachusetts this weekend for MASS MoCA's Bang on a Can Festival, which culminated in a performance of Music for 18 Musicians. Says the Boston Globe: "Reich’s towering 1976 epic rang out like a renewed statement of purpose: a postmodern hoedown of joyfully interlocking parts."
Steve Reich was born in New York, raised there and California, and has spent much of his life in the City. He has also been spending time in the state of Vermont for more than three decades now and owns a home there with his wife, video artist Beryl Korot. Vermont Public Radio spoke with the composer for a feature profile exploring his career and examining how the quiet of Vermont has influenced his writing over the years. "I realized I could write more music and as good or better music in Vermont than I can in New York City," Reich tells VPR reporter Steve Zind, "and what's more I enjoy it." You can listen to the segment now at vpr.net.
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Reich was not too far from home this past weekend when he participated in a day-long celebration of his music at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA) in North Adams, part of the two-week Bang on a Can Summer Music Festival there.
"If there wasn't an official proclamation from the mayor of North Adams, there should have been," writes reviewer Greg Haymes in the Albany Times Union. "Saturday was Steve Reich Day at MASS MoCA."
The day's activities included a discussion between Reich and Bang on a Can's David Lang about the late artist Sol LeWitt, a friend of the composer's and the subject of an exhibit at the museum; afternoon gallery performances of Reich works; and a culminating evening performance featuring Music for 18 Musicians.
"The greatest shock in seeing Music for 18 Musicians performed is discovering how warm this warhorse of cool, cerebral minimalism can actually be," exclaimed the Boston Globe's Ty Burr. "Steve Reich’s towering 1976 epic rang out like a renewed statement of purpose: a postmodern hoedown of joyfully interlocking parts." Burr concludes: "This performance had the drama and the drive of great theater." Read more at boston.com.
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