New York,
New
York, USA -
Imagine
living
in New
York and
studying
at one
of the
most
respected
universities,
and
participating
in one
of the
most challenging
of
music
programs,
in the
world.
Introduce
the
edginess,
and the
uncompromising
and
great
expectations
of New York;
add the
backdrop
of the
political
and
musical
history
of
the Village
coupled
with the
mandatory
mastering
of the
steelpan
music
instrument
-
and you
have a
gold
mine.
New York,
already
the home
of the
most
competitive,
largest
and best
community-based steel
orchestras
in North
America,
now has
a bonafide
world
class
university
program
producing
outstanding
world
class
percussionists
who are
truly
steelpan
musicians. Add the
vision
of Dr.
Jonathan
Haas and
directorship
and
talent
of Joshua Quillen.
Almost overnight
(well not
really,
it’s
been
seven
years in
the
making),
it has
become
possible
that if you
are a
percussionist
who
desires steelpan
in your
portfolio,
NYU (New
York
University) may
just be the
best
place in
the
world to
make
that
happen.
The near-capacity
audience
at NYU’s
Frederick
Loewe
Theatre
in New
York
city’s
Greenwich
Village was
treated
to a
wide
variety
of
musical
pleasures
that
took
them
from the
music
works of
Phillip
Glass,
through
that of Len
“Boogsie”
Sharpe
and
along
the way,
a
well-known
Gloria Estefan
piece,
among
others. NYU
Steel
(the New
York
University
Steel
Drum
Ensemble) is
like no
other. No other
steelpan
ensemble
can
boast
such
a wide
and
eclectic
musical
repertoire.
A few in
the
audience
had
already
experienced
a
foretaste
of what
was on
the
program
for NYU
Steel’s
annual
Spring
concert
when
they
attended
the
performance
of the
mini-ensemble
on
Monday
at
Washington
Square
Park
just
around
the
corner.
On this
night,
the full
complement
of
eighteen
musicians
took
music
lovers
on an
almost
ninety-minute
melodic
episode
that
catered
to
practically
every
musical
taste
imaginable. It was also a case of ‘musical steelpans’ with musicians switching instruments throughout the evening - the result of the requirement that each student become proficient at all the voices of pans featured in the ensemble.
NY Steel director Joshua Quillen during the Spring 2011 concert
The
response
was
effusive
from
those in
attendance,
and the
ensemble’s
music
director
Josh Quillen
(who
also
arranged
several
pieces)
engaged
the
crowd
after
almost
every
selection,
making
sure
the
crowd
knew
that
they
were
part of
the
show -
which
culminated
with
them
being
invited
on stage
at the
grand
finale to
observe
first
hand the
art of
playing
the
instruments.
During
intermission
and at
the end
of the
show,
the man
responsible
for the
existence
of NYU
Steel,
the
Director
of the
NYU
Steinhardt
Percussion
Program,
Jonathan
Haas,
took
time to
mingle
with
each and
every
attendee
who
sought a
bit of
his
time.
It was
in 2007
that the
NYU
Steel
Drum
Ensemble
delivered
their
first
presentation
at the
Frederick
Loewe
Theater;
their
last
annual
Spring
celebration
was
in 2010
they
took the
audience
on a
memorable
journey
from
“Glass”
to
“Boogsie.”
Dr. Haas
was
obviously
quite
proud of
the
steelpan
accomplishments
of
his
percussion
majors,
telling
WST
(When
Steel
Talks)
in an
interview
afterwards
“....as
you
heard in
the
concert
tonight,
they
just
memorized
an hour
and a
half of
some
very,
very
difficult
music,
very
complex...”
The show
was free and
open to the
public
and
while
those
inside
enjoyed
NYU
Steel’s
offerings
to the
fullest,
there
could be
seen
people
outside
the
theatre,
pausing
as they
walked
past.
With
faces
pressed
up
against
the
glass
doors of
the
theatre
and
peering
inside,
they
were
intent
on the
scene
unfolding
on the
stage
not too
far from
them,
but
seemingly
unaware
that
they
could
have
entered
and
joined
those
already
in the
audience.
Mark
your
calendars
next
year for
the NYU
Steel’s
2012
Spring
concert.
Meet Dr.
Jonathan
Haas
WST images
and
video
captured
with the
expressed
permission
of
NYU
Steinhardt,
Program
in
Percussion
Studies, steinhardt.nyu.ed/music.
Contact
NYU
Steel:
Jonathan Haas, Director -
New York University, 35 West 4th
Street, New York, NY. 10012
Phone: 1 (212) 992-9466 Email:
jonathan.haas@nyu.edu
Program
J’Ouvert Barrio |
Roaring Lion/arr. Josh Quillen |
Afro Pan |
Jim Royle |
Sideways |
Josh Quillen |
Piano Etude No. 1 |
Philip Glass/arr. Josh Quillen |
Piano Etude No. 5 |
Philip Glass/arr. Josh Quillen |
Exit Music (For a Film) |
Radiohead/arr. Steve Butters |
|
|
NYU STEEL Combo |
Amazing Grace |
Traditional/arr. Josh Quillen |
|
|
NYU STEEL Combo |
The Hammer |
David Rudder/arr. Matt Dudack |
|
|
Intermission |
|
|
Conscious Chutney |
Ras Shorty I/arr. Liam Teague |
I Still Dream |
Roger Zahab |
|
Jacqueline Russo, Double Seconds |
|
|
Stella by Starlight |
Victor Young/arr. Andrew Broadwater |
Shaw Park |
Len “Boogsie” Sharpe |
Reach |
Gloria Estefan/arr. Kendall Williams |
Forever Soca |
Matt Dudack |
About the
Ensemble
NYU
STEEL
is a
significant
performance
ensemble
within
the NYU
Steinhardt
Percussion
Program,
where
Professor
Jonathan
Haas
serves
as
Director.
Under
the
direction
of
Joshua
Quillen,
NYU
STEEL is
dedicated
to
exploring
the art
of steel
pans to
the
fullest,
performing
rare
compositions
and
arrangements
ranging
in scope
from
Philip
Glass
and
Jason
Trueting,
to David
Rudder
and Lord
Kitchener
from
Trinidad
and
Tobago,
where
the art
form was
invented.
The
ensemble
presents
several
unique
performances
each
year,
collaborating
with
composers
globally,
while
enriching
the
steel
drum
repertoire.
Additional
NYU
STEEL
productions
worthy
of
anticipation
include
a CD
release
party
for the
exclusive
recording
of
Philip
Glass’
Piano
Etudes,
arranged
by
Joshua
Quillen,
which is
scheduled
for
release
by
Orange
Mountain
Music in
May
2011, as
well as
promotional
and
tribute
performances
for
Glass’
upcoming
75th
birthday.
Josh
Quillen
has
forged a
unique
identity
in the
contemporary
music
world as
all-around
percussionist,
expert
steel
drum
performer
(lauded
as
"softly
sophisticated"
by the
New York
Times),
and
composer.
His
collaborations
with
other
composers
frequently
incorporate
the
steel
drums as
a core
element.
A member
of the
ensemble
So
Percussion
since
2006,
Josh has
performed
at
Carnegie
Hall,
the
Brooklyn
Academy
of
Music,
The
Lincoln
Center
Festival,
Stanford
Lively
Arts,
and
dozens
of other
venues
in the
United
States.
In that
time, So
Percussion
has
toured
Russia,
Spain,
Australia,
Italy,
Germany,
and
Scotland.
He has
had the
opportunity
to work
closely
with
Steve
Reich,
Steve
Mackey,
Paul
Lansky,
David
Lang,
Matmos,
Dan
Deacon,
and many
others.
Josh
started
performing
on the
steel
drums at
Dover
High
School
in Ohio,
an
interest
that
continued
at the
University
of
Akron,
where
Dr.
Larry
Snider
founded
one of
the
first
collegiate
steel
bands in
the
United
States.
He
traveled
to
Trinidad
& Tobago
in 2002,
performing
with the
"Phase
II Pan
Groove"
ensemble
under
Len
"Boogsie"
Sharpe.
This
interest
in the
traditional
steel
drum
music of
Trinidad
ran in
parallel
with
Josh's
education
in
western
music,
first at
Akron,
and then
at the
Yale
School
of Music
with
marimba
soloist
Robert
Van Sice,
where he
received
his
Masters
degree
in 2006.
These
parallel
interests
led Josh
to break
ground
in the
use of
the
steel
drums in
contemporary
classical
music.
To date,
he has
commissioned
over a
dozen
pieces
for
steel
drums
from
composers
such as
Stuart
Saunders
Smith,
Roger
Zahab,
Dan
Trueman,
and Paul
Lansky.
In 2010,
Steven
Mackey's
quartet It
Is Time -
commissioned
for So
Percussion
by
Carnegie
Hall and
Chamber
Music
America
-
featured
Josh on
a new
microtonal
lead pan
in its
Carnegie
Hall
premiere,
receiving
rave
reviews
in the
New York
Times.
Josh's
compositions
for So
Percussion
are
featured
in Imaginary
City, an
evening
length
work
that
appeared
on the
Brooklyn
Academy
of
Music's
2009
Next
Wave
Festival,
as well
as the
site-specific
Music
for
Trains in
Southern
Vermont.
Other
ensembles
to play
his
pieces
and
arrangements
include
Matmos,
PLork,
The
Janus
Trio,
Adele
Meyers
and
Dancers,
The
University
of Akron
Steel
Band,
and the
New York
University
Steel
Band.
An avid
educator,
Josh is
co-director
of the
So
Percussion
Summer
Institute,
an
intensive
workshop
for
college-aged
percussionists
on the
campus
of
Princeton
University.
He is
also
co-director
of a new
percussion
program
at the
Bard
College
Conservatory
of
Music,
where So
Percussion
is
ensemble
in
residence
beginning
fall of
2011,
and is
the
director
of the
NYU
Steel
Band.
NYU STEEL
Andrew
Broadwater
Jeffrey Eng
Danielle
Fortner
Paul Frucht
James
Gibian
Andrew Kendris
Matthew
Lau
Yi-Hsuan
Lin
Jeremy
Lowe
Andy
McBeath
Carson
Moody
Matthew
Overbay
Jamie
Pittle
Becky
Reid
Alex
Reynolds
Jacqueline
Russo
Aaron
Silberstein
Tai-Jung
Tsai
Frank
Tyl
Kendall
Williams
James
Woolf