Arts Entrepreneurship Podcast: Making Art Work
Arts Entrepreneurship Podcast: Making Art Work
#209: Colin Currie (Percussionist) (pt. 2 of 2)
This week on the podcast is part two of our interview with percussionist, Colin Currie, who composer Steve Reich describes as “one of the greatest musicians in the world today.” He has performed as a soloist with the world’s leading orchestras including the London Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic and the Cleveland Orchestra. In addition to being a soloist, he’s the founder of the Colin Currie group, the Colin Currie Quartet and Colin Currie Records. If you’re interested in becoming a performing artist, you’ll want to hear Colin’s interview! We’ll link to his site in the show notes so you can read more about him.
Show Notes:
Hi everyone, nick Petrella here. This episode is sponsored by Steve Weiss Music, percussion specialist since 1961. If you're looking for a rare piece of sheet music, a specialty gong or anything percussion, steve Weiss Music will have it. Please visit SteveWeissMusiccom or click their link in the show notes. That's S-T-E-V-E-W-E-I-S-S Musiccom. Our percussion series sponsor.
Announcer:Welcome to the Arts Entrepreneurship Podcast. Making art work. We highlight how entrepreneurs align their artistry, passion and vision to create and pursue opportunities to capture value in the arts. The views expressed by guests on the Arts Entrepreneurship Podcast are solely their own and do not necessarily represent the views of the podcast or its hosts. The appearance of a guest on the podcast, the venture they represent or reference to any product or service does not imply an endorsement or recommendation by the podcast or its hosts. The content provided is for entertainment and informational purposes only and does not constitute business advice. Here are your hosts Andy Heise and Nick Petrella.
Andy Heise:Welcome podcast listeners. My name is Andy Heise and.
Nick Petrella:I'm Nick Petrella. We're really excited to have Colin Currie with us today. He's a percussionist who composer Steve Reiss describes as one of the greatest musicians in the world. Today he's performed as a soloist with the world's leading orchestras, including the London Philharmonic, new York Philharmonic and the Cleveland Orchestra. In addition to being a soloist, he's the founder of the Colin Currie group, the Colin Currie quartet, and Colin Currie records. We'll link to his site in the show notes so you can read more about him. A shout out to our mutual friend, eddie Spillett, who helped us arrange the interview. Colin, it's great to have you here.
Colin Currie:Thanks for having me along Nice to catch up with you guys.
Andy Heise:So what was the impetus for you to start? Colin Currie records.
Colin Currie:Yeah Well, this again is linked to the main impetus for formation of my group, which is the music of Steve Reiss, as is well documented. We started with drumming and, having performed it for over a decade, I felt the time was right to put down our version. We do play a bit different from other ensembles. We play it different from Steve and his group. Our recording was always going to be different, love it or hate it, and I felt the time was right. We had no funding, so we decided to do a Kickstarter campaign online and we had a very successful campaign and through the generosity of two backers in particular who combined for more than half of our overall total and included a member of the public who had never even met, with a massively generous donation, we were able to get the recording made. So that also shows you never quite know who's out there and who might be enjoying your work. Then we had this record with no label and we went around one or two of the larger labels and they said no, thank you. And we said thank you for your honesty. And then we were able to find a way to approach and then partner up with London Symphony Orchestra, who run a label called LSO Live for their own releases, and this label has a great infrastructure and they've worked for other third parties as well along the way, such as Marinsky Theatre, kings College Choir and most recently they've paired up with Jan Andre and Nozada and the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington DC so they are able to help people out who have recordings but no infrastructure. So we have a partnership with them now and that was the foundation of the record label and it's been great.
Colin Currie:The second is that difficult second album. What was tough? Because we didn't obviously make much money from drumming. I mean, no one's going to make much money from these things. I basically had to self-finance the second album. But as soon as you've got two albums, then you have a catalogue and from there we've moved on and we just recorded our sixth album.
Andy Heise:Wow, and so those are all releases of your ensembles.
Colin Currie:Yeah, broadly speaking. Well, basically, I'm trying to intersperse recording Steve's music, which I will do as exhaustively as possible, with an outlier. So the second album is a recital disc with myself and my duo partner, hock and Hardenberger, the trumpet soloist. So that's an album of you know who knows what, but it's a great album. I would say it's the album that I'm, you know, extremely proud of, if I may say, but it's a real. It's certainly not something that presents repertoire that is mainstream in any way. We then follow that with another group album playing Steve's music live in Paris. And then there was another outlier where I was able to get, from live concerts that had worked out well, recordings of the percussion concertos by HK Gruber, one of which was written for me, and on this album you hear the premiere of that concerto. And most recently, we just recorded music for 18 musicians in Abbey Road and that's got a very quick turnaround. That's coming out in April 2023.
Nick Petrella:And didn't you just play that in New York or?
Colin Currie:Yeah, we finally got to do the postponed US tour with the group in which we did the new piece, Travelers Prayer, which was written for us and paired up with his almighty program. It went on all night but it was the Helene Travelers Prayer interval music for 18. But that was a to bring that music to New York, bring it home. To see Steve again after a long absence was a very emotional thing, and the Carnegie Hall audience was fantastic. We had a standing ovation during our performance of to Helene.
Andy Heise:I mean it was really really a big thrill.
Nick Petrella:Yeah, I was looking forward to when you were at Southbank Center. I was looking forward to watching it, but they didn't offer any streaming. I think you were. You was at a similar program, or no?
Colin Currie:It was very. It was very similar. I think we had a runner in there. I think maybe played quartets as well, but we had Travelers Prayer in for sure, and to Helene, yeah.
Nick Petrella:So what's on the horizon? Any recordings on the horizon, or is that under reps?
Colin Currie:Well, I think the next recording would be with the quartets. We've been pushing pretty hard on expanding our repertoire One or two really excellent pieces written for us and another couple of pieces that have fallen into our lap so I think time is time for a mixed album of the percussion quartet. That would be a good thing to do, yeah.
Andy Heise:So is it fair to say that the record label is sort of your tool to record and release recordings that you want to make?
Colin Currie:Yeah, I have absolute carte blanche on the artistic side of it. So it's things that are dear to my heart and things that I would like to record in terms of I think that they would record well, I mean some of the reps to, I do. I think you just have to experience it live. But there are other pieces that go nicely onto disc.
Nick Petrella:Cool yeah. So, colin, you're roughly in the middle of your career. What's different now than when you started and what really hasn't changed?
Colin Currie:I think what's different now is that there is a hugely populated percussion community of outstanding players. Every way you turn, I mean you can't turn on the internet without seeing something that's going to blow your head off. And recently, a couple of years ago or I guess maybe more now, but I was on the jury for the first round of the Geneva competition and I would just look in admiration, but also partially in horrors. Candidate after candidate would just come on and just ace these pieces Bruno Manta, vanny Moise and no problem all kinds of things I mean just phenomenal. So this is something that maybe I think is interesting for the younger percussionists. Maybe they're not aware that they are part of this. I mean, it's a continuum.
Nick Petrella:You're part of that continuum right. It's because of you and people like you who've inspired and say I want to be like that person. If that person can do it, I can do it right.
Colin Currie:Well, I'm happy to you know, what I think I'm happy with is my contributions to the repertoire, and I'm there.
Colin Currie:I feel quite confident that I am leaving a legacy and that there are pieces of depth and distinction for new players to take on and also ample room for them. I mean, I think the more the merrier, I mean I'm in nobody's way, I mean these pieces are ripe for the taking and I think that's what's the newest thing. The biggest change is that this I'm surrounded now by all this very inspiring percussion activity, which is more of it, but it's also more visible. I mean, of course, I had the people I'd already mentioned, the Safry duo, so I've had people that I looked up to, and what's the same about the business. What comes to mind is that it's still a very challenging business, and I don't want that to sound negative, but I think it's still something that you constantly have to plug away at, and the second you rest in your laurels, it's like you're starting to fizzle out or fade, or something you have to constantly be pushing and looking and discovering and to keep that hunger, and I think that's the thing that is very, very important to remember.
Nick Petrella:Well, and you're actually. It looks to me as though you've built in a small ecosystem that encourages you to do that, because you're out doing concharity, you're doing solo, you have the quartet, you have the records. You're putting yourself in a position that you will inherently be creative and productive.
Colin Currie:Yeah, and I've also rather cheekily surrounded myself with these fantastic players who make it easy for me. I mean, I can sound very good in music for 18 musicians. When I'm playing with those 17 others, I sound great and it's because of them. So I am certainly again, I keep saying this but I'm very blessed and really relish this close camaraderie that I do have with these other players, these musicians.
Andy Heise:And this question may be redundant from what you just said but in your experience, what is the hardest part about being a professional artist?
Colin Currie:Well, I would say I wish someone had told me early on about the highs and lows of performing, because I would go out and get an early gig. Let's say, go to Tokyo play Santori Hall debut concerto. You know, grace like wow, I could not get going to the airport so excited. This is a thrill. And no one told me about the danger of all of this, and that is that you go there, you play your performance. You're going to be hideously jet lagged. You're going to come off that stage 2000 people are going to be screaming for you with the greatest adulation and excitement. You're going to walk out that concert hall into urban environments where you can't even read the map. No one's going to recognize you, no one's going to help you. You'll be on this weird high. You know how to deal with that. These are the things that I wish had been a manual. Maybe there's more Help available now, I don't know.
Colin Currie:These are things that were dangerous for me when I was starting out. It's the highs and lows Again. That's where I've benefited a lot from being with my group. I'm with my close friends and I can be myself and we can handle these things together. It's something you have to get on top of. You have to understand that you're going to have this rush and you have to know that it's going to be a little wild and it's going to feel strange coming down and that needs work and everyone has to find their own way on that one. There's no answer to that, but it has to be dealt with. It has to be dealt with.
Nick Petrella:Yeah, and that's you know. It's part of the reason for this podcast. We have all these guests coming in. They're sharing their experiences, but until you get lost in Tokyo and you don't have the business card of the address you're supposed to get to, right, yeah, that's happened. But right, I mean what?
Colin Currie:are you going to do? Yeah, enough yeah.
Nick Petrella:Yeah, so it looks like you've premiered or commissioned about 30 Concerti. Just looking at your website, can you describe the process and what it's like in the early stages? I think performers listening would be interested in how the idea of a piece evolves over the collaboration.
Colin Currie:Yeah, well, the nice thing about the concertos in particular is it's a could not be a more diverse group of pieces in the sense that they've all come about under their own steam. Some composers want you there for every note of the piece, to sending you phrase after phrase. They're calling you, they're emailing you, they want meetings, others you talk about Concerti even as a concept, and then two years later, having barely heard a word, full score arrives, published in your Dormat. So there's all these different, and what I'm very fond of is this collection of creative types. They're all so interesting and that they all so different and vibrant in their own way, and the pieces of all had a different genesis and story and trajectory. And such diverse collection of music, they have very little in common with each other and that's my favorite thing about it.
Nick Petrella:So sometimes the composers, you have some say in what it's going to be and others probably not so much.
Colin Currie:Yeah, I mean, generally, when I go with the Concerto idea, it's usually the generic would you write me a percussion Concerto? Sometimes I have a specific idea. For example, at the moment I would very much like Tosho Hossakawa to write me a Marimba Concerto. That's very particular, something I feel is perhaps missing in my repertoire and something that I think he would do very, very well. So that's under discussion, but normally it's just this okay, let's have a percussion Concerto. And then you get Julia Wolfe who writes Rise and Fly, and it's body percussion and street percussion and buckets and things. Or it's Helen Grime with a lot of vibraphone. Or Bruno Mantavani, all unpitched massive drum setup, Danny Alfman, blah, blah, blah. I mean, everyone has their own ideas and I like to give them that freedom. To be honest, yeah.
Andy Heise:One more quick question before we get to our final three questions Something you just said. You just said you'd like to have that Marimba Concerto as part of your repertoire. Are you thinking about your repertoire in terms of outlets for it? So is there a compromise between hey, I think there's a need or a demand for someone to hear a certain type of Concerto, and therefore I'm going to find someone to write that or is it purely from your own sort of artistic expression? I need to play a piece like Fill in the Blank.
Colin Currie:Generally speaking, I approach composer because I love their music. So recent ones, andrew Norman I'd heard his phenomenal, fiendish ability for orchestration fast-paced, zippy, and I thought, well, got to have that. I mean, just a percussion concerto just is inevitable for him and I would like to be in there. So that's how a piece like that happens. So, generally speaking, it's a love of a composer's music. At this point, with almost 40 concertos done, I am looking for the gaps in my repertoire. So what's not covered yet, which style isn't covered yet? And that was one of the reasons Bruno Mantevani was approached. I felt I was missing something of that rather harder-edged, modernistic, avant-garde style that I'm very fond of but don't play very much because there are not so many concertos with that type of music. So at this point I'm also looking to kind of seal the deal and make sure that everything's covered. Sure.
Andy Heise:Yeah, that's great. Okay. So, colin, now we've reached the part of our interview where we ask all of our interviewees the same three questions, and the first question is what advice would you give to others wanting to become an arts entrepreneur?
Colin Currie:Know yourself. Be true to yourself, but get to know yourself, understand yourself and support yourself mentally. If you believe in a piece of music or a type of music, or a composer or a certain approach, you're probably right. Stick with it. That's my advice.
Nick Petrella:What can we do to ensure the arts are more accessible and reaching the widest possible audience?
Colin Currie:Ask yourself the question what's happening as I walk out of my front door? So I understand that I have a very privileged position of traveling and working with large symphony orchestras and composers of repute. But the thing I really want to address right now is music in my local community. So I found a local arts institution called Chamber Music Scotland. I've paired up with them and we've got an infrastructure in place for me to go into the primary schools that are these are junior schools, I would say American in the area, so I can work with very young musician and non-musical children. And then there's a community centre where they have this kind of meeting that I've not been yet but I'm going to get involved there. And ultimately I'm intending to launch a concert series here in Rutherglen which is in my home for about three years now. So I would say it's doing your bit on the concert circuits obviously the high brow, if you will side of things. But then what's happening when you leave your front door? Make sure music is happening there too.
Nick Petrella:We rarely ask follow up questions on these final three, but I just have a question. So what prompted you to go into those schools and speak with the arts councils?
Colin Currie:Well, I just have very good recollections of extremely important interactions with visiting musicians and artists when I was of school age. Occasionally someone would come in and it wouldn't necessarily even be a music thing, but just something creative. I even recollect some there's some kind of dance duo, and I think they were from Canada which seems very exotic at the time, growing up in Edinburgh in the 80s, and it's somehow was a bit weird and a bit shocking and it just pushed a button inside me, and so I think, whatever it is, children have this amazing ability to process things at their own tempo, but the important thing is that these fires are lit early on. So that's something that I feel is very, very important and something I want to give back with my local community.
Andy Heise:Yeah, that's great. Last question what's the best artistic or entrepreneurial advice you've ever been given?
Colin Currie:Okay, I was in a very good school windband. My sister was in it too. She played the saxophone. We went to rehearsals every week, every Thursday, and with this band director his name is Alan Ferney, and he had this advice and I've shared it widely. So anyone hearing this who's been to Master Class of Mind or whatever, they'll know what's coming next, but it's worth sharing. He had this advice that I still think is my favorite advice, which was to do with playing a phrase, and his advice for playing this phrase was to play it as slow as you dare. I think that's the best advice I've ever had. So whether you're playing a million notes a minute or three semi-brieves every 10 minutes, you try and find that width in the music. So play this thing as slow as you dare, Even if it's massively up tempo. Just try and fit it in the pocket. So I think that advice transcends anything I've ever heard.
Nick Petrella:Well, thanks so much for being here today. I know the listeners are going to get a lot out of it and you gave us a lot of information. We will make sure we link to every institution and musician that we can find and put it in the show notes.
Colin Currie:Thank you very much. Very nice to catch up with you guys. Thank you.
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