Show Details

“Andy Akiho is an increasingly in-demand composer”—The New York Times

“… an incredibly disciplined collective musical intelligence”—Seattle Times

“Andy Akiho cuts through every bit of pretension that remains embedded in new music and contemporary classical communities”—Willamette Week

“Seven Pillars is a lush, brooding celebration of noise”—The New York Times

Trailblazing Pulitzer Prize and GRAMMY-nominate composer Andy Akiho returns to the 27^th Beijing Music Festival in 2024. On the heels of his incredible success with the “Ping Pong Concerto,” Akiho and Sandbox Percussion present Seven Pillars, a large-scale work that once again emphasizes the natural theatricality of live performance.

The virtuoso percussionist Andy Akiho is based in New York City and his primary performance instrument is steel pans. His compositional interest was stimulated by participating in the “Bang on a Can” Festivals in 2007 and 2008. He has since developed a reputation for writing music that makes use of metallic sounds and incorporate elements of theatre.

Ian Rosenbaum, Jonny Allen, Terry Sweeney, and Victor Caccese make up the utterly mesmerizing and GRAMMY-nominated ensemble Sandbox Percussion. Dedicated to artistry in contemporary music, the ensemble already performed Seven Pillars more than 15 times throughout the United States and Europe, including at the Théâtre du Châtelet, in Paris. The simple joy of playing together and their visually and aurally stunning performances have captivated audiences worldwide. 

The 11-movement concert piece Seven Pillars is scored for percussion quartet, presenting seven ensemble movements and one solo for each member of Sandbox. Exploring the free spaces created with an organized structure, individual movements flow continuously into the next without pause. The stage layout and original lighting scheme was developed by director and filmmaker Michael McQuilken, and Akiho and Sandox Percussion commissioned 11 video artists to create original films for every movement of Seven Pillars. These collaborative videos encompass the worlds of dance, animation, experimental narrative film, and time-lapse.

Seven Pillars has received two nominations in the 2022 GRAMMY Awards and was selected as a finalist in the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Music. Seizing the primordial parts of drumming while embracing the melodic possibility of tuned percussion, you simply can’t afford to miss this contemporary pillar of new music at the 27^th Beijing Music Festival.

Track：

Andy Akiho：Seven Pillars                                         85′

The program is subject to change

Artist/Group:

Andy Akiho, composer

Sandbox Percussion