Excerpts from Gramophone feature
Andy Akiho’s landmark percussion work Seven Pillars, first performed in 2021, extends the scope of percussion composition across 11 movements that embrace varied global and traditional musical influences. Performed at the Forbidden City Concert Hall by Sandbox Percussion, for whom the piece was written, Seven Pillars was an undoubted festival highlight. The composer received the Festival’s 2024 Young Artist of the Year Award.
There are countless ways in which Akiho’s work reflects the values of the Beijing Music Festival itself – its innovation, its embracing of various traditions and nationalities, and its demanding of excellence from the performers and engagement from the audience. It could only happen in Beijing, China’s premier music hub whose domestic scene, international reach and superlative infrastructure have the capacity to bring world artists together. The city’s hungry, curious audience yet again proved itself ready to be challenged by music that embraces new sounds.
Read feature in full here.
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