ARCHITEK PERCUSSION is a Montreal-based quartet specializing in the performance of experimental, minimalist, multi-disciplinary, and electroacoustic chamber music. Founded in early 2012, the quartet has quickly established itself as a dynamic force in Canada’s vibrant new music community; equally comfortable in performing classic repertoire and exploring new terrain through commissions and premieres. In addition to self-producing a concert series in Montreal, Architek Percussion has recently appeared as guests of Ottawa New Music Creators, live@CIRMMT, Innovations en Concert, Cluster Festival, and toured Canada’s maritime provinces. Appearances in 2014-15 include PASIC Focus Day (Indianapolis), New Music Edmonton, Codes d’Acces, Groundswell (Winnipeg),The Music Gallery (Toronto), and Scotia Festival of Music (Halifax).
Architek Percussion is committed to the development and presentation of new Canadian music. The quartet has premiered over 20 new works by composers such as Eliot Britton, Christos Hatzis, Nicole Lizée, and Lukas Ligeti. The quartet’s current repertoire reflects the cultural and stylistic diversity of North American contemporary music. Architek Percussion consists of Ben Duinker, Mark Morton, Ben Reimer, and Alessandro Valiante.
BEN DUINKER is a performer, researcher, educator, composer, and choral tenor. As a percussionist, he has won prizes at competitions such as the OSM Standard Life Competition, PASIC Solo Percussion Competition, the Universal Marimba Competition, and the Prix D’Europe. His playing has been described as displaying “breath-holding physical grace” (Chronicle Herald) and as “revealing exceptional dexterity and precision” (La Presse). Duinker holds master’s degrees in performance and music theory from McGill University. He currently divides his time between the pursuit of a PhD in Music Theory and his performing and composing activities.
MARK MORTON is a multi-instrumentalist devoted to several streams of music making. As an orchestral percussionist, he has performed with Symphony Nova Scotia, I Musici, and l’Orchestre de la Francophonie. He has worked with world renowned percussionists like Steven Schick and Allen Otte, as well as the ensembles Tambucco, Percussions Claviers de Lyon, and Percussions de Strasbourg. He is also a frequent guest artist at Scotia Festival of Music. Mark holds a master of music in orchestral and chamber percussion from McGill University and a bachelor of music in piano from Dalhousie University. He also enjoys singing in choirs in the Montreal area.
BEN REIMER is a versatile percussionist who blurs the boundaries between popular and contemporary music. A recent doctoral graduate of McGill, his main focus of research and performance has been to demonstrate how the drumset, traditionally an improvised instrument, has recently emerged as a solo instrument with prescribed notation. Reimer has premiered four drumset concerti across Canada with the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, SMCQ, TorQ Percussion, and Architek Percussion. Previously based in Winnipeg, he was the coordinator of percussion studies at Brandon University. Reimer holds a bachelor of music from McGill University and a master of music from SUNY Stony Brook.
ALESSANDRO VALIANTE has been immersed in his native Montreal’s beautiful and diverse culture since birth. He is a versatile percussionist, active in genres ranging from chamber music, rock, musical theatre, world music, to hip-hop. Valiante was a featured soloist in the Random Walks Xenakis Festival (Toronto) and has frequently collaborated with Sixtrum (Montreal). He holds a bachelor and master of music performance from McGill University, where he established himself as a specialist in the chamber repertoire of Steve Reich, Iannis Xenakis, David Lang, and John Cage and worked with a diverse set of composers including Vinko Globokar and Thierry De May.
Contact
info(at)architekpercussion(dot)com
www.architekpercussion.com
www.architekpercussion.com/soundcloud