Sō Percussion with Becca Stevens
Groundtone Day 1
Known for their “exhilarating blend of precision and anarchy, rigor and bedlam” (The New Yorker) and their “mix of consummate skill and quirky charm” (New York Times), Grammy-winning percussion quartet Sō Percussion kicks off PS21’s second annual Groundtone weekend. In this special concert, they’ll team up with Grammy-nominated songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Becca Stevens.
Sō Percussion opens the program with their own Eric Cha Beach’s mesmerizing composition “4+9,” followed by the co-composed “Music for Wood and Strings” by Bryce Dessner. Dessner is an acclaimed Grammy-award winning composer, film scorer, and guitarist of The National.
Becca Stevens, who has collaborated with countless artists such as David Crosby, Brad Mehldau, Snarky Puppy, and Jacob Collier, then joins for Pulitzer Prize and four-time Grammy-winning composer and instrumentalist Caroline Shaw’s “Narrow Sea,” and to debut new songs written with Sō.
Groundtone is PS21’s annual weekend-long celebration of adventurous music by an eclectic selection of today’s most original voices. Dazzling performances and immersive experiences take place across the PS21 grounds with concerts in our theater, fields, installations, and barns.
This year’s Groundtone features Sō Percussion in collaboration with Grammy-nominated songwriter Becca Stevens, pathbreaking harpist Parker Ramsay, and a full slate of artists who defy categorization. On June 21, PS21 will usher the globally-renowned Make Music Day to Chatham for the first time, with a sunrise musical procession created by Phil Kline; Annea Lockwood’s Home Ground, a new site specific work spanning the PS21 terrain; and the return of Sayer Mansfield’s Dive Barn.
Groundtone is four days of audacious music, unexpected collaboration, sound, and community in the PS21 landscape.
For 25 years, Grammy-winning percussion quartet Sō Percussion has redefined chamber music for the 21st century through an “exhilarating blend of precision and anarchy, rigor and bedlam” (The New Yorker). The group is celebrated by audiences and presenters for a dazzling range of work: for live performances in which “telepathic powers of communication” (New York Times) bring to life the vibrant percussion repertoire; for an extravagant array of collaborations in classical music, pop, indie rock, contemporary dance, and theater; and for work in education and the community, creating opportunities and platforms for music and artists that explore the immense possibility of art in our time.
A commitment to the creation and amplification of new work, and extraordinary powers of perception and communication have made Sō a trusted partner for composers, helping inspire music that expands the style and capacity of brilliant voices of our time. Sō’s collaborative composition partners include David Lang, Julia Wolfe, Nathalie Joachim, Dan Trueman, Kendall K. Williams, Angélica Negrón, Shodekeh Talifero, claire rousay, Leilehua Lanzilotti, Bora Yoon, Olivier Tarpaga, Bobby Previte, Matmos, and many others.
In May 2025, Sō Percussion embarks on a two-week residency at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) for two programs, one featuring new collaborations with Helado Negro and Kate Stables (This is the Kit), and the other featuring Caroline Shaw and Danni Lee Parpan (Ringdown) performing highlights from the recent Grammy-winning album, Rectangles and Circumstance. Dates with Shaw and Ringdown also include the Barbican in London, the BOZAR in Brussels, Saffron Hall in Essex, and the 92NY in New York City. The season also includes collaborations with composer Viet Cuong; solo shows at the Clark Art Institute in the Berkshires; performances at PASIC, and much more.
Other recent Sō highlights include performances at Carnegie Hall, the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Big Ears, Cal Performances, at the Palau de la Musica Catalana in Barcelona, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Penn Live Arts in Philadelphia, the Hancher Auditorium at the University of Iowa, the Oklahoma Philharmonic (for David Lang’s man made, written for Sō, and featured in their latest recording with the Cincinnati Symphony and Louis Langrée), the Library of Congress, touring Benin and Burkina Faso with Olivier Tarpaga, and more.
Their latest album, Rectangles and Circumstance, with Caroline Shaw, was released in 2024 on Nonesuch Records, following their debut co-written album with Shaw, Let the Soil Play its Simple Part. Other recent albums include A Record Of… on Brassland Music with Buke and Gase, and – on new imprint Sō Percussion Editions – an acclaimed version of Julius Eastman’s Stay On It, plus Darian Donovan Thomas’s Individuate. This adds to a catalog of more than 25 albums featuring landmark recordings of works by David Lang, Steve Reich, Steven Mackey, and others.
The members of Sō Percussion are the Edward T. Cone Performers-in-Residence at Princeton University. Rooted in the belief that music is an elemental form of human communication, and galvanized by forces for social change, Sō enthusiastically pursues a range of social and community outreach through their nonprofit umbrella, including an ongoing partnership with Pan in Motion; the Sō Laboratories concert series; a studio residency program in Brooklyn; and the Sō Percussion Summer Institute, an intensive two-week chamber music seminar for percussionists and composers.
Eric Cha-Beach
Josh Quillen
Adam Sliwinski
Jason Treuting
