My lovely partner Glennda bought me some skullcandy and I was just listening to some Steve Reich on them, specifically 2x5 a piece he composed in 2008 for Bang on a Can. It’s a notated work for rock band instruments and like a great deal of music written for such instruments, it’s more effective to listen to it on headphones than in a natural acoustic. The dialogue/relationship between classical and popular styles is getting really interesting these days.

Father of Minimalism Steve Reich, sensationally talented pianist Zubin Kanga and me at the Sydney Opera House today. So honoured to be playing Mr. Reich’s hypnotically stirring music with so many wonderful musicians. Honoured and privileged, in fact.

Can’t wait for Sunday!

I haven’t played marimba in public since (dating myself here) 1992. 1992!!! In less than a week I’ll be playing it in a concert on the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall stage! Yikes. Not for very long, probs about 5-6 mins, in Steve Reich’s Music for 18 Musicians. Had a bit of a tutorial this eve with Timothy Constable, Artistic Director of Synergy Percussion, which makes me feel considerably more confident about it. Fortunately in this concert I’m playing piano most of time, my natural habitat *phew*

Steve Reich

Apparently Mr Reich is coming along to our first rehearsal of his Music for 18 Musicians on Tuesday at the Sydney Opera House. Yikes. Thankful for the extra rehearsal called for tomorrow afternoon!! *grin*

Steve Reich and his five bearded friends.

I love minimalism. I’m so looking forward to performing Mr. Reich’sMusic for 18 Musicians in less than two weeks from today! :D

Am spending large portions of time this week working purely on building up my stamina ahead of rehearsals for this Steve Reich in residence business. Honestly, I think they should have a massage therapist on hand for the whole rehearsal process and after the concert for a couple days (during our recovery time).

Performing two major works by Steve Reich in one day? I must be crazy… but it’s so FUN!!!

Excerpts from Mallet Quartet by Steve Reich. It’s Australian premiere performed by Synergy Percussion.

I’m so excited to be performing some Reich with these folks later this month, Music for 18 Musicians and Variations for Vibes Strings Pianos. Book here

What started as an ideology of purity of process, of music stripped back to its essentials, has become a grab-bag of ideas composers draw on when they want to create hallucinogenic textures of pulse-based sensuality, or to lull us into supplication with holy reverie.

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—	Tom Service writes in the Guardian Minimalism at 50: how less became more

Performance and Rehearsal Practices of Minimalist Music: Specifically related to Music for Eighteen Musicians by Steve Reich

By Callum Moncrief.

Lots of people play minimalist music and I would like to know a little bit more about their approach. It was quite a challenge just knowing how to start on memorising all that Philip Glass. Did others have similar issues? I must read this book!!

All of us were performers. We took back for ourselves the metier of the interpreter. If we’d waited for interpreters, we’d probably still be waiting.

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—	Philip Glass on his own career and the careers of contemporaries John Cage and Steve Reich. Read the rest of the article here