On March 5th, award winning composer (and PDX resident) Andy Akiho will join Sergio Carreno and the virtuosos of Gemini percussion for an epic evening of Andy’s music, Pulses and Pillars.

Their program features movements from Andy’s Grammy and Pulitzer nominated composition Pillars, plus solo works performed by Andy on the steel pan. It promises to be a thrilling evening of music, presented at the fabulous Straub Collaborative studio.

Pulses and Pillars – an evening with Andy Akiho and Gemini Percussion
Tuesday, March 5th, 7pm
Straub Collaborative in NW PDX
Tickets

Sergio gives us a glimpse into the life of a professional percussionist, and what it’s like to prepare an Andy Akiho composition…

How does Andy Akiho’s music challenge you as a percussionist, beyond anything you typically play?

Andy has such a profound and intimate understanding of what a percussionist’s hands are technically capable of that he can expertly push the limits of technique and vocabulary in a way that feels simultaneously like you're being forced to go beyond what is currently possible with your technique, while also having it feel very natural and almost familiar to your hands. It’s a bit paradoxical how my brain and hands feel like there is no way I’ll ever have the ability to play his notes when beginning a new piece, to then eventually (with enough time and effort put in) becoming so natural in the hands that you almost can’t not play it. His music starts to morph into that “like riding a bike” scenario. At the same time a very similar process plays out with how his music is phrased and internally felt and understood at the intellectual level. Deciphering an Andy Akiho score is one the great pleasures, and terrors, in the chamber music genre! Once you crack the code to his scores it becomes so obvious and understood that you can't “un-see it” ever again. It’s kind of like the arrow that’s embedded in the FedEx logo… once you see it you can’t un-see it.

What’s your favorite band?

Metallica

As an orchestral percussionist, you probably play more instruments than anyone else! What is your favorite instrument to play?

Whatever I happen to be playing at that moment!

What’s your favorite PDX restaurant?

How lucky are we who get to live in a city where that question is simply impossible to answer! I sincerely love too many places in this town to pick just one. It’s almost embarrassing how many quality restaurants we have here. Truly, I’ve had emotional experiences from the level of culinary excellence everywhere from food carts, to 12 course prix fixe high end spots in town, and everything in between. It’s just amazing and I can’t pick just one!

Ron Blessinger
Violinist, 45^th Parallel Universe