Ethos Percussion Group

If you're in NYC, go see Ethos Percussion Group play Monday night.

Monday March 12, 2007
Peter Norton Symphony Space
Leonard Nimoy Thalia
2537 Broadway at 95th Street
7:30pm
www.symphonyspace.org




Works to Include:
World Premieres by Clarice Assad and Susie Ibarra
Ethos Commissions by Dafnis Prieto and Samir Chatterjee
Double Music by John Cage and Lou Harrison

Ethos Percussionists are Trey Files, Youssef Phinney, Eric Sheronick and David Shively

Ethos Bio:

"...played with expert togetherness, sensitivity and zest." ~ New York Times

"...extraordinarily skilled ethnic drumming... one of America's finest percussion quartets." ~ Percussive Notes

For more than fifteen years, Ethos Percussion Group has inspired audiences throughout the country with its exceptional music-making and collective devotion to the incredibly diverse world of percussion music. Ensemble members Trey Files, Eric Phinney, Yousif Sheronick and David Shively are accomplished classical and world music artists, each with a distinctive background and musical perspective. Their substantial combined expertise is the source of Ethos' innovative programming, which integrates global instruments and playing styles into the conventions of Western chamber music to create a visually and aurally compelling experience. The ensemble's critically-acclaimed performances regularly feature numerous commissions and world premieres, traditional rhythms from India, West Africa and the Middle East, and landmark works by composers such as John Cage, Lou Harrison and Steve Reich.

Recent seasons have included concerts across the United States and the United Kingdom, with major engagements at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center's Walter Reade Theater, the Bermuda Festival, London's Wigmore Hall and the Percussive Arts Society International Convention. Recent collaborations include the Kansas City Symphony, Grammy-winning frame drummer Glen Velez, Indian tabla master Pandit Samir Chatterjee and Ghanaian gyil virtuoso Bernard Woma. Ethos is the recipient of a continuing grant from the Jerome Foundation which has funded fifteen commissions for the ensemble. The premieres of these works have been a significant element of the group's ongoing concert series dedicated to percussion chamber music, which was established in New York City in 1999. In April 2000, National Public Radio's Morning Edition covered the world premiere of Michael Daugherty's Used Car Salesman, which was commissioned for Ethos by Hancher Auditorium at the University of Iowa.

Ethos' discography includes Sol Tunnels (2003), The Persistence of Past Chemistries (1999) and Ethos Percussion Group (1996).

Since its founding in 1989 by Michael Sgouros, Ethos has remained committed to advancing the percussive arts in education as well as performance. In addition to presenting clinics and master classes at institutions such as The Juilliard School, Eastman School of Music and Berklee College of Music, Ethos has worked with thousands of students in New York City's public schools through concert and classroom activities. Ethos is an ensemble-in-residence at La Guardia High School for the Performing Arts, and in 2004 the group formed a satellite organization dedicated exclusively to arts education known as World Beat.

Individually, the members of Ethos have performed with Philip Glass, Branford Marsalis, Yo-Yo Ma, New World Symphony, New Music Consort, Manhattan Chamber Orchestra, Ensemble Sospeso, New York City Ballet, De La Guarda and Mabou Mines. They can be heard on a variety of recordings released by CRI, Opus One, Koch International and Decca. Ethos Percussion Group is a member ensemble of Chamber Music America and a sustaining member of the Percussive Arts Society. The ensemble gratefully endorses products from Cooperman Drums, Grover Pro Percussion, Innovative Mallets, Latin Percussion, Sabian Cymbals and Yamaha Percussion.