Chamber Music at the Hammer | Smoke and Mirrors Percussion

Founded in 2009, the Smoke and Mirrors Ensemble is a percussion group that champions both the classics of the percussion repertoire as well as new works and transcriptions of works for other instruments. In December of 2011, they made their concerto debut with The Colburn Orchestra under Gerard Schwarz performing Toru Takemitsu’s “From Me Flows What You Call Time.” In past seasons, the group has appeared with the New West Symphony performing music by Nebjosa Zivkovic and Lou Harrison, and at the MOCA Pacific Design Center performing the music of Iannis Xenakis. Active proponents of bringing music outside the conventional concert hall, Smoke and Mirrors has previously teamed up with the Da Camera Society and Street Symphony to present concerts.

In June 2011, Smoke and Mirrors recorded their debut album on the Yarlung record label with producer Bob Attiyeh, Jr. This past summer, thanks to many family, friends, and total strangers, the group successfully funded the production of this album via Kickstarter, raising over $10K to production costs! The album is set to be released this fall and features a wide range of music representative of the group’s varied interests.

Appearing today are Joseph Beribak, Edward Hong, Lauren Kosty, Kevin Schlossman, and Derek Tywoniuk. Joseph, Edward, Kevin, and Derek are all current students at The Colburn School Conservatory of Music as students of Jack van Geem. Lauren Kosty has studied at the USC Thorton School of Music and Carnegie Mellon University. Members of the ensemble have appeared individually at the Ojai Festival, Lucerne Festival Academy, Aspen Music Festival, MusicXI Festival and Zeltsman Music Festival, among others. The name “Smoke and Mirrors” comes from a phrase that our mentor, Jack, uses to describe the way we use the simple tools of rhythm, pitch, and timbre in a complex manner to create intensely effective experiences and, in the process, expand the public’s literacy in the percussion repertoire.

The program:

Steve Reich “Music for Pieces of Wood”
Derek Tywoniuk “You’re Breaking Me” (world premiere)
Ben Wahlund “Hard-Boiled Capitalism and the Day Mr. Friedman Noticed
Google is a Verb”

-short break-

Askell Masson “Prim”
Thierry de May “Table Music”
John Cage “Living Room Music”
Steve Reich “Clapping Music”