Trailblazing composer Steve Reich smashed musical boundaries by mixing together classical techniques with African drumming, jazz, and pop to pioneer minimal music. His Music for 18 Musicians made a massive impact when it landed in 1976, inspiring generations of musicians across experimental music, rock, and contemporary electronic music.
In commemoration of the 50th anniversary of its premiere and 90th birthday of the composer, this signal composition is staged by dynamic conductor and musical visionary Alan Pierson within the vast Wade Thompson Drill Hall. Three generations of musicians come together — the original Steve Reich Ensemble, exhilarating new-music ensemble Alarm Will Sound, and the next generation of musicians from the Manhattan School of Music—in a production that expands the original work into a cycling, durational performance. Musicians encircle the listener, embodying the construction of the musical forms in an unprecedented immersive cycle, with enlivening connective interludes by special guest artists inspired by the iconic composition. The resulting ritual allows musicians and audiences to freely commune together with humanistic, contemplative, and ecstatic resonance, making space to hear the music anew and from within.