Andy
Akiho
on
steel
pan
performing
with
string
quartet
in
Jordan
Kuspa's
‘Hit
the
Spot’
at
Sprague
Memorial
Hall,
Yale
University
School
of
Music
Connecticut,
USA - New
York’s
own
Andy
Akiho,
now a
graduate
student
studying
for his
master’s
degree
in
composition
at the
prestigious
Yale
School
of
Music
in New
Haven,
Connecticut,
again
took his
musical
genius
as an
eclectic
composer
and
proven
skill
set on the
steelpan
instrument
into
another
musical
‘cosmos’
last evening.
Akiho
continues
to
challenge
the
musically
acceptable
and
expected norms
for
steel
pan
music
performances
and
collaborations.
In a
musical
event
that was
streamed
live
over the
internet,
Andy
Akiho
was
highlighted
as part
of “New
Music
New
Haven”
featuring
Pulitzer
Prize-winning
composer Yehudi
Wyner,
along
with
five
pieces
for
unconventional
chamber
ensembles
by
up-and-coming
composers: Akiho
with LigNEouS
for
string
quartet
and
marimba;
Jordan
Kuspa’s
Hit
the Spot
for
steel
pan and
string
quartet;
Hannah
Lash’s
Folksongs
for
piccolo,
harp,
and
percussion;
Adrian
Knight’s
The
Caligari
Project
for
clarinet,
viola,
cello,
accordion,
piano,
and
percussion;
and
Justin
Tierney’s
Zephyrus
for
clarinet,
viola,
and
harp.
Andy
Akiho
on
steel
pan
performing
with
string
quartet
in
Jordan
Kuspa's
‘Hit
the
Spot’
at
Sprague
Memorial
Hall,
Yale
University
School
of
Music
Akiho’s
work was
first on
display
through
LigNEouS,
his
composition
for
string
quartet
and
marimba
[no
steel
pan],
originally commissioned
by John
and
Astrid Baumgardner
for the
2010
Norfolk
Chamber
Music
Festival.
It was
Andy
Akiho’s
second
appearance
on stage,
where
his
music
acumen
as a
steel panist
was
called
upon in
Jordan
Kuspa’s
Hit the
Spot.
In part, Kuspa
says “In
the
piece, I
have
tried to
reflect
the
virtuosity,
imagination,
and
seemingly
inexhaustible
energy
that
Andy
displays
in his
music
making,
and to
express
the
joy that
emanates
from
every
performance
he
gives.”
Complementing
the
ensemble
for the
performance
of
Hit the
Spot was the
Linden
String
Quartet:
Sarah McElravy,
violin;
Catherine
Cosbey,
violin;
Eric
Wong,
viola;
and
Felix
Umansky,
cello.
“New
Music
New
Haven”
unfolded at
the Morse
Recital
Hall
(Sprague
Memorial
Hall) on
the Yale
University
Campus
in New
Haven.
In
addition
to the
live
audience
present,
the Yale
School
of Music-live
stream
event
was viewable
online
and
shared
via the WST
forum
with the
steelpan
community.
When
Steel
Talks
was also
privileged
to be at
Yale
last
December
when
Andy
Akiho
also
joined
his
contemporaries
in
showcasing
musical
aptitudes,
and featured
as one
of four
composers
premiering
their
respective music
works.
More
on Andy
Akiho