Photo by Joe Mazza
Doug Perkins, percussion
Doug Perkins has been has been declared a “percussion virtuoso” by the New York Times and has appeared at venues of all types including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Millennium Park, the Alaskan tundra, Central Park Lake, and countless others.
Mr. Perkins has commissioned and premiered over 100 pieces and works with such composers as David Lang, Steve Reich, Paul Lansky, John Luther Adams, Glenn Kotche, Sofia Gubaidulina, and Tristan Perich. He founded the percussion quartet Sō Percussion and the Meehan/Perkins Duo, and performs with Ensemble Signal, Eighth Blackbird, and others.
Mr. Perkins’ acclaimed recordings as a soloist, conductor, producer, and member of the Meehan/Perkins Duo and Sō Percussion can be heard on the Bridge, Cantaloupe, Harmonia Mundi, New Focus, and New World labels. They have been called “brilliant” by the New York Times and named to numerous Top Ten of the Year lists.
Lately, Mr. Perkins has been organizing large-scale events that encourage new ways of experiencing live music. His production of Iannis Xenakis’ Persephassa in and around Central Park Lake and John Luther Adams’ Inuksuit in New York City were named Top Ten Performances in 2010 and 2011 by the New Yorker, New York Magazine, and Time Out New York.
Doug Perkins is presently Associate Professor of Percussion at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee. He is also the Director and Founder of the Chosen Vale International Percussion Seminar. He served with Eighth Blackbird as an Artist-in-Residence at the University of Chicago and music faculty at Dartmouth College.