Percussion music, in a category and with a mission and ethos unto itself, has been an important development of “serious” music of the past century-and-change. This most pre-historic of music-making modes is also among the most modern and evolutionary sound/music fields.
And among the elite percussion ensembles making the international scene, a list including the UC San Diego–based red fish blue fish, Brooklyn’s Sō Percussion is one of the brightest stars in today’s new music cultural constellation.
 100vw, 639px” data-recalc-dims=”1″/>Credit: Stefen Cohen</p>
<p>Suddenly, this supremely gifted, rooted and also game-for-anything group — formed in 1999 and going strong in 2022 — is headed to the 805 for significant appearances, starting on Saturday, July 9, at Hahn Hall. As the most forward-leaning contemporary visitor in this year’s 75th anniversary Music Academy festival, the ensemble is appearing as one of four special concerts in the luminous Mosher Guest Artist series.</p>
<p>Next spring, Sō Percussion returns to town in collaboration with innovative composer-vocalist Caroline Shaw and their Let the Soil Play Its Simple Part project, as part of the UCSB Arts & Lectures series announced recently.</p>
<p>But the Hahn Hall show qualifies as a must-hear for existing believers and a fine primer for the as-yet uninitiated. Whereas next spring’s concert is devoted to the music of Shaw — one of many artists and composers the group works with — the Hahn Hall program showcases the ensemble itself and includes a world premiere of Collective Ungraspable by Robyn Cee Kay Jacob, a composer-in- residence at the Music Academy this year.</p>
<p>July 9’s concert also includes two works by Puerto Rico-born composer Angélica Negrón, whose enticing Moriviví just had its premiere earlier this month, in the finale concert of the LA Philharmonic season. Also on the multi-cultural program is music by Trinidadian composer-steel pan player Kendall Williams, capping things off with group member Jason Treuting’s Amid the Noise.</p>
<p>Even as they navigate their way through tours and travel dates, soon to include the 805, Sō Percussion retains a sense of rootedness at home in Brooklyn. Their “Brooklyn Bound” concert series features guests appearing in their home studio/personal space, in the Navy Yard area of Brooklyn. Theirs is a joyful, wise, primal, sophisticated and sometimes suitably raucous noise, worth savoring. </p>
<p>See musicacademy.org.</p>
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