Sō Percussion named Edward T. Cone Performers-in-Residence

The modern percussion ensemble Sō Percussion has been named the Edward T. Cone Performers-in-Residence at Princeton University. As active participants in the Department of Music, the four-member group will teach graduate and undergraduate students; coach student chamber music ensembles; give master classes; workshop, rehearse and perform new works by student and faculty composers; and present two concerts from their touring repertoire each academic year. The renewable three-year appointment will begin in fall 2014.

Jason Treuting, a member of Sō Percussion, is also an inaugural Fellow in the Creative and Performing Arts at Princeton, a program that provides support for early-career artists.

So percussion

As the Edward T. Cone Performers-in-Residence, the members of Sō Percussion will teach graduate and undergraduate students, coach student chamber music ensembles, give master classes and perform. From left: Eric Beach, Adam Sliwinski, Jason Treuting and Josh Quillen. (Photo by Janette Beckman)

"Our relationship with Sō Percussion has been growing over the past eight years," said Steven Mackey, chair of the Department of Music and professor of music. "We are home to their annual percussion/composition institute, they have performed many works by our student and faculty composers, and they have co-taught classes with our faculty.

"We have been so impressed with the myriad ways they contribute to music making at Princeton. This was an easy choice to make," Mackey said. "Sō Percussion are scintillating performers, and we look forward to sharing the excitement of their performances with the wider community."

Sō Percussion — initially conceived to present the repertoire of prominent 20th-century composers including John Cage and Steve Reich and influenced by ensembles such as the Kronos Quartet and Nexus Percussion — continues to push the boundaries of percussion in performance and composition. They have commissioned new works by important American composers, including Mackey and other Princeton faculty members Paul Lansky, the William Shubael Conant Professor of Music, and Dan Trueman, professor of music and co-founder of the Princeton Laptop Orchestra. The ensemble's members are also composers in their own right; Sō Percussion has recorded 15 albums to date showcasing their own and others' compositions, including works by Mackey, Lansky and Trueman.

Sō Percussion succeeds the Brentano String Quartet, who served as Performers-in-Residence since 1999.