Album Notes

PERCUSSION GROUP CINCINNATI was founded in 1979 and consists of members Allen Otte, James Culley, and Russell Burge, all of whom are faculty members and ensemble-in-residence at the College-Conservatory of Music of the University of Cincinnati. Their daily rehearsal schedule is supplemented with the teaching and coaching of young musicians, many of whom have gone on to professional careers in creative music, in teaching, and with major symphony orchestras. Appearances in their national and international touring schedule have included the major cities, festivals, concert halls and schools of America, Europe and Asia. In addition to community concerts, workshops, and masterclasses, the Group regularly appears as concerto soloists with symphony orchestras, and has presented their program "Music From Scratch" to hundreds of thousands of children across North America. Percussion Group Cincinnati is particularly respected for its knowledge of and experience with the entire range of the music of John Cage, having made tours and festival appearances with him on a number of occassions in Europe and in America, and having had pieces created by Cage especially for the Group. More recently, the Group has developed similar special relationships with John Luther Adams, Qu Xiao-Song, Russell Peck, and with Larry Austin on the Charles Ives Universe Symphony project. Recent performances include the Shanghai International Spring Music Festival, a tour of Japan, and the premiere of a new concerto in Singapore with the Singapore Chinese Instrument Orchestra. Over the past 25 years, many young composers from the United States, Latin America, Europe, Africa and Asia have created a large body of new and often experimental music for the unique talents of Percussion Group Cincinnati. The group's work appears on various CDs, including their own ars moderno label; their recording of John Luther Adams’ evening-length “Strange and Sacred Noise” was released in surround-sound by Mode this year. They are currently working on their contribution to the series of Mode Records’ integrated set of the complete music of John Cage, and on a 25-year retrospective multi-disc set including performances from the group’s entire history.