In Sunday’s (12/16) Star-Ledger (Newark, New Jersey), Ronni Reich writes, “Andy Akiho stands at the center of a trio of steel pans on the stage of Yale University’s ornate Woolsey Hall, playing the world premiere of the first concerto he has written. His drumsticks rattle furiously against the pans’ metallic edges as the Yale Philharmonia growls and swoons around him. … ‘I never thought I would be going this route,’ Akiho says … in his apartment near Princeton University. When Akiho, a slender 33-year-old with sharp bone structure and an intent gaze, moved to New York to play percussion, he had no money and knew no one. … Ten years and two master’s degrees later, he is about to make his debut as a composer with the New York Philharmonic. Akiho is currently a Ph.D. candidate at Princeton, and his composition ‘Oscillate’ will have a world premiere performance Friday as part of the CONTACT! new music series. Equally comfortable playing and writing, Akiho has performed steel pan on the streets of Trinidad—the pan capital of the world—and won second prize in the country’s largest solo competition. In the past year, the Los Angeles Philharmonic has premiered his music, and he beat out more than 500 applicants as the winner of Grammy-winning chamber ensemble eighth blackbird’s Make Music National Composition Competition.”
Posted December 17, 2012
