Europe Celebrates Steve Reich’s 75th Birthday

2011 marks Steve Reich’s 75th birthday year and there are numerous celebrations happening in cities throughout Europe featuring his works. Major concerts have already taken place in Stockholm, Amsterdam, London (Barbican, BBC Proms), Manchester, Porto and Cork. Sacrum Profanum festival in Krakow is featuring a week devoted to his major works involving Ensemble Modern, Beryl Korot, Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead and Bang on a Can. Further concerts this year are planned in Duesseldorf, Bonn, Dresden, Paris and Budapest as well as a visit to St Pauls School in London.

Nonesuch has released Reich’s latest recording of ‘WTC 9/11’, ‘Dance Patterns’ and ‘Mallet Quartet’ to great critical acclaim. Please click here to listen to an extract from the first movement. The recording was selected by Gramophone as one of its discs of the year for 2011:

“Finally a 9/11 work that manages to communicate the complex and often contradictory range of emotions, thoughts and feelings caused by the momentous event.  A truly profound work.”