Colin Currie Group performed at the BBC Proms on 15 July as part of a celebration to mark 40 years of the BBC Young Musician of the Year competition. Colin Currie, Owen Gunnell, Adrian Spillett and Sam Walton played Steve Reich Drumming (Part 1) to a packed out Royal Albert Hall in London.

Colin was the first percussionist to reach the finals of the competition in 1994 and the category has been a firm fixture in the competition ever since. Adrian Spillett won the competition in 1998.

“Colin Currie, Owen Gunnell, Adrian Spillett and Sam Walton generated excitement from the rhythms of Steve Reich’s Drumming (Part 1).”
London Evening Standard

“The biggest thrill of all, for me, was hearing how Part One of Steve Reich’s Drumming can sound in the Albert Hall…as led by Colin Currie, a mere finalist in 1994, with Owen Gunnell, Adrian Spillett and Sam Walton… it’s not possible to play this piece more vibrantly and precisely than these four did.”
The Arts Desk, July 2018

“Currie and Spillett and the other percussionists listed, reprised one of their party pieces: the first part of Steve Reich’s Drumming: fifteen minutes of ever-changing rhythm. In the loudest passages the Royal Albert Hall’s echo added surreally to the tattooed barrage.”
Classical Source, July 2018

The Prom is available to watch in the UK via BBC iPlayer until 14 August.

Photo credit: BBC, Chris Christodoulou