About So Percussion

Adam Sliwinski Jason Treuting Josh Quillen Eric Beach

To learn more about us, please check out www.sopercussion.com

Download a Press Release about the So Percussion Summer Institute


Since coming together at the Yale School of Music, So Percussion has been creating music that is at turns raucous and touching, barbarous and heartfelt. Realizing that percussion instruments can communicate all the extremes of emotion and musical possibility, it has not been an easy music to define. Called “astonishing and entrancing” by Billboard Magazine, “brilliant” by the New York Times, the Brooklyn based quartet’s innovative work has quickly helped them forge a unique and diverse career.

Their music runs the gamut from percussion classics (Steve Reich’s Drumming), to new commissions (David Lang’s the so-called laws of nature), to original music (group member Jason Treuting’s Amid the Noise).

So Percussion has performed this music all over the United States, with concerts at the Lincoln Center Festival, Carnegie Hall, Stanford Lively Arts, the Cleveland Museum of Art, and many others. In addition, recent tours to Russia, Australia, Italy, Germany, and the Ukraine have brought them international acclaim. So was honored with the 2nd prize overall, and the special concerto prize at the 2005 Luxembourg International Percussion Quartet Competition.

The members of So each hold graduate degrees from the Yale School of Music, and attended Oberlin, Eastman, The University of Akron, and the Peabody Conservatory for undergraduate studies.

Individual Biographies

In addition to his work with So, Jason Treuting performs improvised music with Simpl, a group with laptop artist/composer Cenk Ergun; QQQ, a quartet consisting of hardinger fiddle, viola, guitar and drums; and Big Farm, with singer Rinde Eckert, guitarist/composer Steve Mackey and bassist Mark Haanstra. He received his Bachelor in Music at the Eastman School of Music where he studied percussion with John Beck and drum set and improvisation with Steve Gadd, Ralph Alessi and Michael Cain. He received his Master in Music along with an Artist Diploma from Yale University where he studied percussion with Robert Van Sice. Jason has also traveled to Japan to study marimba with Keiko Abe and Bali to study gamelan with Pac I Nyoman Suadin.
In addition to his work with So Percussion, Adam Sliwinski has performed extensively as a soloist, both as a percussionist and marimbist. In 2000, he was the alternate winner of the Sorantin Young Artist competition in San Angelo, Texas. His marimba playing was described as "beautifully delineated" by the Cleveland Plain Dealer, and "expertly parsed" by the Boston Globe. Adam is also a member of the International Contemporary Ensemble, a group based in Chicago and New York. Adam received his Bachelors in Music at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music studying with Michael Rosen. He received his Masters and Doctor of Musical Arts at the Yale School of Music with Robert Van Sice. Other teachers have included Jack Bell and Peggy Benkesar.
In addition to his work with So Percussion, Joshua R. Quillen has performed in steel drumming ensembles all over the country. He played with Len "Boogsie" Sharpe's Phase II Pan Groove in Trinidad/Tobago during Carnival in 2002. He has commissioned several new works for contemporary steel drum including Roger Zahab's "I Still Dream" and "Pan Man" by Bruce J. Taub, the second of which was premiered in New York City in May of 2004. He has participated in premieres of pieces as part of the New Music Ensemble, Daedulus, under the direction of Roger Zahab. He has performed as a section percussionist with the Akron Symphony Orchestra, and is well versed in marimba and multiple-percussion. A recent performance included a solo piece with the University of Akron Steel Drum Band accompanying the Ohio Ballet. Mr. Quillen studied with Robert Van Sice at Yale University (MM) as well as Dr. Larry Snider at the University of Akron (BM, ME). Josh serves as the artistic director for the steel band at New York University.
In addition to his work with So Percussion, Eric Beach performs often as a soloist and chamber musician. Studying with Robert van Sice, he received his Bachelor of Music and Graduate Performance Diploma at the Peabody Conservatory, where he won the Yale Gordon Competition, and his Master of Music at the Yale School of Music. He also received a Fulbright fellowship and pursued additional study with Bernhard Wulff in Freiburg, Germany. He has taught as Adjunct Professor of Percussion at the University of Bridgeport and in the Hearing and Undergraduate Percussion programs at the Yale School of Music.