“There weren’t any full-time percussion-based chamber groups until recent decades in the U.S.—but now, something about the rhythm section is unquestionably helping drive contemporary art music forward,” writes Jeremy Reynolds in Tuesday’s (1/5) San Francisco Classical Voice. “ ‘Classical music is getting there in terms of welcoming experimental, new work,’ said David Skidmore, an ensemble member and executive director of Third Coast Percussion, formed in 2005…. ‘What I’ve seen over the past 15 years is a definite shift,’ he said…. ‘Percussionists have always had a mandate to drive contemporary music,” said Russell Greenberg of the percussion and piano quartet Yarn/Wire. ‘We don’t really have anything else.’ … Adam Sliwinski, a member of the quartet Sō Percussion, [pointed] to part-time groups like the Toronto-based Nexus Percussion and Percussion Group Cincinnati, Blackearth Percussion, and even the student-based Oberlin Percussion Group…. Skidmore also pointed to shifts in music education as a main driver of this type of ensemble’s popularity…. Greenberg argued that contemporary ‘classical’ music has moved into a post-genre state altogether these days and said that Yarn/ Wire … seeks music creators of all stripes who demonstrate curiosity. ‘Percussion lends itself to unusual music,’ he said.”
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