Steve Reich's 75th Birthday Celebrated in Free Chicago Concert by Eighth Blackbird, Third Coast Percussion

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Steve Reich's 75th birthday celebrations continue with a free concert in Chicago's Pritzker Pavilion at Millennium Park tonight. The concert features performances by Chicago's own eighth blackbird and Third Coast Percussion and an all-Reich program comprising what the Chicago Tribune counts among "some of his finest pieces": Double Sextet, Mallet Quartet, and Music for 18 Musicians. Chicagoist calls it "the most anticipated show of the summer." Catch a video preview here.

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Steve Reich's 75th birthday celebrations continue with a free concert in Chicago's Pritzker Pavilion at Millennium Park tonight, starting at 6:30 PM. The concert eatures performances by Chicago's own eighth blackbird and Third Coast Percussion and an all-Reich program comprising what Chicago Tribune music critic Greg Kot counts among "some of his finest pieces": the Chicago premiere of the live version of Reich's Pulitzer Prize-winning Double Sextet, the Chicago premiere of Mallet Quartet, and his seminal 1974 piece Music for 18 Musicians.

The first recording of Double Sextet was released last year on Nonesuch, in a performance by eighth blackbird; as noted last week in the Nonesuch Journal, the album was just put on the shortlist for this year's Gramophone Classical Music Awards. The first recording of Mallet Quartet comes out next month on Reich's forthcoming Nonesuch release in a performance by Sō Percussion, paired with WTC 9/11 by Kronos Quartet and Dance Patterns by members of Steve Reich and Musicians. The Nonesuch recording of Music for 18 Musicians by Steve Reich and Musicians received a Grammy Award in 1998. To pre-order the forthcoming Steve Reich album and pick up a copy of any of the albums in his Nonesuch catalog, head to the Nonesuch Store now, where CD orders include high-quality, 320 kbps MP3s of the album.

Tonight's event comes Highly Recommended by Chicagoist. Noting some of the major summer concert events available to Chicago audiences, the site says: "Some folks are Pitchfork people, others Lollapalooza advocates, but for some of us on staff, the most anticipated show of the summer is this Monday's free concert of Steve Reich's music in Millennium Park performed by some of the best locally-sourced musicians."

Chicagoist goes on to explain: "The experience of hearing Music for 18 Musicians is like watching the ocean, seeing the movement of the waves as well as the larger currents. This is why we're so damn excited for this concert: it's the perfect piece for a relaxing late summer night at Pritzker Pavilion."

Read more at chicagoist.com.

For more information on tonight's concert, visit explorechicago.org. Catch a video preview here:

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  • Monday, August 22, 2011
    Steve Reich's 75th Birthday Celebrated in Free Chicago Concert by Eighth Blackbird, Third Coast Percussion
    Wonge Bergmann

    Steve Reich's 75th birthday celebrations continue with a free concert in Chicago's Pritzker Pavilion at Millennium Park tonight, starting at 6:30 PM. The concert eatures performances by Chicago's own eighth blackbird and Third Coast Percussion and an all-Reich program comprising what Chicago Tribune music critic Greg Kot counts among "some of his finest pieces": the Chicago premiere of the live version of Reich's Pulitzer Prize-winning Double Sextet, the Chicago premiere of Mallet Quartet, and his seminal 1974 piece Music for 18 Musicians.

    The first recording of Double Sextet was released last year on Nonesuch, in a performance by eighth blackbird; as noted last week in the Nonesuch Journal, the album was just put on the shortlist for this year's Gramophone Classical Music Awards. The first recording of Mallet Quartet comes out next month on Reich's forthcoming Nonesuch release in a performance by Sō Percussion, paired with WTC 9/11 by Kronos Quartet and Dance Patterns by members of Steve Reich and Musicians. The Nonesuch recording of Music for 18 Musicians by Steve Reich and Musicians received a Grammy Award in 1998. To pre-order the forthcoming Steve Reich album and pick up a copy of any of the albums in his Nonesuch catalog, head to the Nonesuch Store now, where CD orders include high-quality, 320 kbps MP3s of the album.

    Tonight's event comes Highly Recommended by Chicagoist. Noting some of the major summer concert events available to Chicago audiences, the site says: "Some folks are Pitchfork people, others Lollapalooza advocates, but for some of us on staff, the most anticipated show of the summer is this Monday's free concert of Steve Reich's music in Millennium Park performed by some of the best locally-sourced musicians."

    Chicagoist goes on to explain: "The experience of hearing Music for 18 Musicians is like watching the ocean, seeing the movement of the waves as well as the larger currents. This is why we're so damn excited for this concert: it's the perfect piece for a relaxing late summer night at Pritzker Pavilion."

    Read more at chicagoist.com.

    For more information on tonight's concert, visit explorechicago.org. Catch a video preview here:

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