“Seven Pillars,” the bold, genre-defying collaboration by critically-acclaimed composer Andy Akiho and Sandbox Percussion has received 2022 GRAMMY nominations in the cateogries of Best Chamber Music / Small Ensemble Performance and Best Contemporary Classical Composition.
Seven Pillars is an evening-length work consisting of seven ensemble movements and one solo movement for each member of Sandbox, and is the largest-scale chamber music work that Akiho has written and that Sandbox has commissioned. Akiho and Sandbox’s ongoing collaboration for “Seven Pillars” has spanned the past 8 years, developed through multiple extended residencies at Avaloch Farm Music Institute.
“I’ve never taken on a project this ambitious – it’s nearly 80 minutes of music – but I was inspired by the collaborative relationship I have with Sandbox,” says Akiho. “We’re all close friends, we enjoy making music together, and there is freedom to experiment in that type of environment. The instrumentation includes traditional instruments such as vibraphone, glockenspiel, and marimba, with some found percussion sounds like glass bottles and metal pipes. Creatively, I wanted to limit the instrumentation in order to encourage the opportunity to find unique timbres and playing techniques on each instrument.”
The world-premiere live performance will take place at Emerald City Music December 3 and 4, 2021, with an accompanying light show designed by famed theater director Michael McQuilken.
Read album press release here.
Watch teaser video here
"Seven Pillars" - Concert in 11 Parts for Sandbox Percussion
Live performance World Premiere - 12/3/2021 Emerald City Music Festival
Album links - https://ffm.to/sevenpillars
Music by Andy Akiho
Performed by Ian Rosenbaum, Jonny Allen, Terry Sweeney, Victor Caccese
Produced by Andy Akiho, Sean Dixon and Sandbox Percussion
Engineered & Mixed by Sean Dixon
Mastered by Adam Ayan at Gateway Mastering Studios
Comments