Biography
Colin Currie, a percussionist from Scotland, has built a reputation through his commitment to bold and innovative modern works. Close artistic partnerships with Steve Reich have led him to record and present numerous pieces by the composer. Born in Edinburgh in 1976, Currie began piano studies at age five. The following year, after witnessing a performance by jazz legend Buddy Rich, he took up drumming and began formal lessons. His focus later shifted toward orchestral percussion, prompting enrollment from 1990 to 1994 in the Junior Department of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, where Pamella Dow served as his instructor. He continued his training at the Royal Academy of Music and, upon completing his studies in 1998, issued his debut album, Striking a Balance: Percussion Music, which included compositions by Chick Corea, Steve Reich, and additional creators. In 2000 he received the BBC Young Artist Award, followed by selection as a BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist from 2003 to 2005, a period that also brought him the Bortletti Buitoni Trust Award. He joined the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet for American engagements and assembled the Colin Currie Group with eleven fellow musicians dedicated to Steve Reich’s catalog. The ensemble’s programs encompass Music for Pieces of Wood, Music for 18 Musicians, and further Reich scores. Throughout the 2010s the group traveled widely, appearing in France, Germany, and Tokyo. Steve Reich participated in a 2014 performance of Clapping Music with the ensemble, and in 2017 the Colin Currie Group raised funds to record Drumming, issuing the album in 2018 on the Colin Currie Records imprint. That same year Currie established the Colin Currie Quartet alongside Owen Gunnell, Adrian Spillett, and Sam Walton, an ensemble centered on Reich alongside other living composers such as Julia Wolfe and Dave Maric. In 2019 he captured the live album Colin Currie & Steve Reich Live at Fondation Louis Vuitton, with subsequent releases including HK Gruber: Percussion Concertos in 2021 and Steve Reich: Music for 18 Musicians in 2023. Residing in Scotland, Currie remains a foremost interpreter of contemporary percussion repertoire.
Albums
