NEXUS - nexuspercussion.com
 NEXUS has been dubbed “…the high Priests of the Percussion World” by the New York Times. The first, entirely improvised NEXUS concert in 1971 marked the formation of a group that would touch and entertain people of all levels of musical learning, in all genres of percussion music. Bob Becker, Bill Cahn, Russell Hartenberger and Garry Kvistad are virtuosos alone, and bring elements of their knowledge and character to a distinct and powerful whole. They stand out in the contemporary music scene for the innovation and diversity of their programs, their impressive history of collaborations and commissions, their revival of 1920’s novelty ragtime xylophone music, and their influential improvisatory ideas.
They have enjoyed participating at international music festivals such as the Adelaide, Holland, Budapest Spring, Singapore Arts, Tanglewood, Ravinia, and Blossom Music Festivals, as well as the BBC Proms in London, Music Today and Music Joy festivals in Tokyo, and many World Drum Festivals. NEXUS was inducted into the Percussive Arts Society Hall of Fame in 1999, just before celebrating their 30th anniversary season. Especially renowned for their improvisational skills, NEXUS was called upon to create the musical score for the National Film Board’s “Inside Time”, which won the 2008 Yorkton Golden Sheaf award for best social / political documentary and the 2008 Robert Brooks award for cinematography. NEXUS also created the chilling score for the Academy Award-winning feature-length documentary “The Man Who Skied Down Everest”. NEXUS’ list of high-profile collaborations includes Steve Reich, the Kronos Quartet, the Canadian Brass, and clarinetist Richard Stoltzman. The 2016-2017 concert season marks their 46th year. |
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| Bob Becker B  ob Becker’s performing experience spans nearly all of the musical disciplines where percussion is found. Here’s a few of the highlights from his body of work: He has been timpanist with the Marlboro Festival Orchestra under Pablo Casals; he has performed and recorded with such diverse groups as the Ensemble Intercontemporaine under Pierre Boulez; he has appeared as tabla soloist in India; he is a founding member of the Flaming Dono West African Dance and Drum Ensemble in Toronto; and he is a regular member of the ensemble Steve Reich and Musicians. |
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Bill Cahn Bill Cahn has been a member of the NEXUS percussion quintet since its founding in 1971, and was the principal percussionist in the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra from 1968 to 1995. Since 2006 Bill has been an Associate Professor of Percussion at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. He is also a faculty artist-in-residence at the Showa Academy of the Arts in Kawasaki, Japan since 1998. Bill has received the Rochester Philharmonic League’s FANFARE AWARD (1988) for a “significant contribution to music education in Rochester,” and several other awards as well. In 2006 Bill received a GRAMMY Award as part of the Paul Winter Consort on the DVD titled, “2004 Solstice Concert.” |
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Russell Hartenberger Russell Hartenberger received his B.Mus degree from Curtis Institute - upon graduation, he joined the U.S. Air Force Band and toured throughout the US, Europe and South America as xylophone soloist. Russell holds a PhD in World Music from Wesleyan University where he studied mrdangam; he has also studied table, Javanese Gamelan and West African Drumming. He is Professor of Percussion at the University of Toronto where NEXUS holds a residency. Russell has been a member of Steve Reich and Musicians since 1971, and performed on the Grammy Award-winning recording of Music for 18 Musicians. |
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Garry Kvistad Founder and Executive Director of the Drum Boogie Festival, Garry joined Nexus in the Fall of 2002 when John Wyre, one of the group’s original members, retired. He has been performing and recording with Nexus co-founders Bob Becker and Russell Hartenberger since joining Steve Reich and Musicians in 1980. Garry is one of 18 musicians to win a Grammy award for the 1998 recording of Steve Reich’s Music for 18 Musicians. Garryattended the Interlochen Arts Academy, earned his BM from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, and his MM from Northern Illinois University where he studied music, art and physics in the pursuit of musical instrument building.In the 1970s, Garry worked with composer / conductor Lucas Foss as a Creative Associate in Buffalo, New York, he then joined the faculties of Northern Illinois University and the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music. The Balinese Gong Kebyar Gamelan ensemble, Giri Mekar, which he formed in 1987, is currently in residence at Bard College. Garry’s credits include positions with the Grant Park Symphony of Chicago, the Cabrillo Music Festival Orchestra of California and even a gig with the Temptations at the Kool Jazz Festival in Oakland Stadium. |
with special guests BAIRD HERSEY AND PRANA - pranasound.com
 PRANA is a Sanskrit word meaning: breath, vital energy, life force. It is also a five voice, a cappella ensemble who uses only their breath to make sound to relax the body, still the mind and open the heart. Their sound is a unique blend of traditional western vocal music and the music of India, Tibet, Tuva, Mongolia, Bulgaria and Georgia, with a strong emphasis on vocal harmonics. Each member is a respected performer in their own right who join together in PRANA to create beautiful rising harmonies, shimmering vocal textures, and high arcing melodies. The members of PRANA are Amy Fradon, Kirsti Gholson, Baird Hersey, Bruce Milner, and Timothy Hill! |
| Baird Hersey is a National Endowment for the Arts Composition Fellow. His diverse musical career has encompassed Commissions from Harvard University, New York State Council for the Arts, New Mexico Council for the Arts, The Brooklyn Bridge Centennial Sound and Light Spectacular, The Public Theater, Meet the Composer, The Hudson Valley Philharmonic, and performances throughout the US and Europe in such different setting as the Berlin Jazz Festival and MTV. Hersey has recorded 14 albums as a leader or soloist, and recorded or performed with; Krishna Das, Wah!, Steve Smith (Journey), Doane Perry (Jethro Tull), Graham Parker, and Aine Minogue. In 2000, he formed the vocal group Prana. His composing for the group embraces traditional western vocal music heavily influenced by the music of India, Tibet, Tuva, Mongolia, Bulgaria and Georgia and with an emphasis on vocal harmonics. |
| Amy Fradon is a singer / songwriter, a passionate teacher and an ordained minister. She is the founder of the Vocal Visionary Training Program. She has recorded 10 albums under her own name and with her former partner Leslie Ritter and performed with Maria Muldaur, Happy and Artie Traum, Robbie DuPree, Livingston Taylor, Ed Sanders and the Fugs, Orleans, Peter Yarrow, Tiny Tim, and Rick Danko. and in the Broadway Touring Company of Pumpboys and Dinettes. |
| Kirsti Gholson is animal rights activist, environmental advocate, singer / songwriter, recording artist and performer. Before moving to Woodstock, Kirsti made music in Philadelphia with her bands “Art Can Kill” and “Sweet William”. She was chosen to perform on The Emerging Artists Stage for Woodstock ’99. Her song, “I got the Message” was aired on MTV’s Laguna Beach. Last year her song “Ways to Kiss the Ground” was nominated for the 13th Annual Independent Music Awards. She recently released an album titled, “The Summer I Stopped Whining” under the band name “Little Green Blackbird”. |
| Bruce Milner is in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of “Every Mother’s Son” who had a #1 radio hit in 1967 with “Come on Down To My Boat Baby” off of their LP record on MGM. As a keyboard player and singer, he works in many musical contexts. |
| Timothy Hill is singer / composer who has has released three recordings of original songs “This Bright World”, “The Human Place”, and “Spirit’s Body”. He is also a pioneer in the art of harmonic singing, having recorded 8 albums as an original member with David Hykes and the Harmonic Choir. Mr. Hill is a Grammy nominee for his work on Pete Seeger’s “The Storm King”. He co-leads Wayfarer, Sleeping Bee, and Weave Vocal Research Group, and has performed with John Cage, Bill Frisell, Jeff Buckley, Odetta, Pete Seeger, Pauline Oliveros, Madan Gopal Singh, Joe Maneri, Butch Morris and Carter Burwell, Hill has been a visiting lecturer at the Bard College Conservatory Graduate Vocal Arts Program. |