Carnegie Hall

Colin Currie Group is a virtuosic ensemble that specializes in the music of Steve Reich. Its performances of Reich’s music have been hailed by the composer as “the best I’ve ever heard.”

Led by Colin Currie—“the world’s finest and most daring percussionist” (The Spectator)—the hand-picked ensemble was formed in 2006 for a performance of Drumming at the BBC Proms to celebrate Reich’s 70th birthday. In the subsequent decade, the Colin Currie Group has performed Drumming around the world. It has expanded its repertoire to include many of Reich’s most popular works, including Music for 18 Musicians, Sextet, Tehillim, and Music for Pieces of Wood.

A major season highlight are the US and West Coast premieres of Steve Reich’s Traveler’s Prayer, with an additional co-commissioned premiere to follow at Tokyo Opera City later this season. Last October and November, the group premiered the work to critical acclaim, with performances at the Concertgebouw, Royal Festival Hall, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, and Philharmonie de Paris. The group has previously premiered Steve Reich’s Quartet for two pianos and two vibraphones in 2014, dedicated by the composer to Colin Currie. Since the premiere of Quartet at London’s Southbank Centre, the group has given multiple performances of this work across the UK, Europe, Asia, and US.

This season, the ensemble honors the 100th anniversary of the birth of Iannis Xenakis with a performance of his percussive masterwork Pléïades in a joint program with the JACK Quartet at London’s Southbank Centre.

The Colin Currie Group performs frequently at London’s Southbank Centre and has appeared in concert at major halls and festivals worldwide, including the Shanghai MISA Festival, Esplanade Concert Hall (Singapore), Cité de la Musique, Fondation Louis Vuitton, Cologne Philharmonie, De Doelen (Rotterdam), Helsinki Festival, Saffron Hall, and Barbican Centre. In 2019, the group made its Edinburgh International Festival debut, performing Sofia Gubaidulina’s Glorious Percussion under the baton of Thomas Dausgaard with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.

Recent recording highlights include the Colin Currie Records release of selected works by Steve Reich, including Pulse, Proverb, and Clapping Music performed by Colin Currie and Reich. The recording received outstanding reviews and was named one of the “Best New Classical Albums” by Gramophone, following the highly successful debut release Drumming in 2018 and Quartet on Nonesuch in 2019.

Synergy Vocals is an elite pool of singers able to deliver a broad repertoire in a variety of styles. The group specializes in close-microphone singing and is often associated with the music of Steve Reich, John Adams, Louis Andriessen, Steven Mackey, and Luciano Berio.

Synergy has given concerts around the world with orchestras and ensembles, including the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony, New World Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmomic, New York Philharmonic, Remix, Nexus, Steve Reich and Musicians, Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Asko|Schönberg, Ensemble intercontemporain, Ictus, London Sinfonietta, London Symphony Orchestra, and all five of the UK’s BBC orchestras. They have also collaborated with dance companies, including the Royal Ballet (London) and Rosas (Brussels).

World premieres include Reich’s Three Tales and Daniel Variations, Mackey’s Dreamhouse, Andriessen’s video opera La Commedia, David Lang’s writing on water, and Sir James MacMillan’s Since it was the day of Preparation …, as well as the UK premiere of Nono’s monumental Prometeo. Synergy Vocals recently sang chorus at London’s Royal Festival Hall in Ravi Shankar’s opera Sukanya, and the ensemble is currently working with conductor David Murphy and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra on a new project by New York–based composer Satya Hinduja.

As well as live concerts and recordings, Synergy Vocals has undertaken education and outreach projects in the UK, The Netherlands, the US, and South America. Micaela Haslam regularly coaches both professional and student ensembles for Steve Reich in preparation for his Music for 18 Musicians, and has given numerous talks and workshops about Reich’s work.

Synergy Vocals is featured on a variety of film soundtracks, including Nanny McPhee, Harry Potter, The Chronicles of Narnia, Severance, Triangle, and Onward. Commercial recordings include the Grammy-winning Dreamhouse, Since it was the day of Preparation … with the Hebrides Ensemble, Andriessen’s De Staat with the London Sinfonietta, Three Tales with Steve Reich and Musicians, La Commedia with Asko|Schönberg, Adams’s Grand Pianola Music with the San Francisco Symphony conducted by the composer, Kompendium’s Beneath the Waves, These New Puritans’ Field of Reeds, Rob Reed’s Sanctuary, and Steven Wilson’s Grace for Drowning. The group’s most recent releases include Berio’s Sinfonia with the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Josep Pons, and Reich’s Proverb with the Colin Currie Group and The Desert Music with Sydney Symphony Orchestra conducted by David Robertson.