SoundBox Curated by Andy Akiho
Sculptures
April 11 & 12, 2025
Artists
Curator and Percussion
Adam Larsen
Video Designer
Luke Kritzeck
Lighting Design
Program
Andy Akiho
Bronze I from Sculptures
David Lang
Music from Part III from the so-called laws of nature
Michael Gordon
Clouded Yellow
Andy Akiho
Petroglyph from Sculptures
Paola Prestini
Spell
Missy Mazzoli
Beyond the Order of Things
Andy Akiho
CarTogRAPh from Seven Pillars
Paula Matthusen
nacht nach nacht nach nacht nach nacht
Andy Akiho
Cylinders from Sculptures
Julia Wolfe
With a Blue Dress On
Andy Akiho
Bronze II from Sculptures
Sponsors
Lead support for SoundBox is provided by The Barbro and Bernard Osher SoundBox Fund.
Andy Akiho, curator
TICKETING INFORMATION
General Admission $80
Producer’s Pass $500
EVENT SCHEDULE
7:15pm Producer’s Entrance doors open
7:30pm Producer's Roundtable discussion
8:00pm General Admission doors open
8:30pm Show begins
Become a Producer and help ensure the longevity of this much-loved music space while enjoying the following benefits:
- Early entry via the Producer’s Entrance. No line!
- Guaranteed seats—best in the house.
- Two free drinks per passholder.
- Recognition—your name on the big screen.
- Access to pre-show artist roundtables.
- Tax-deduction of $350 per Producer’s Pass
Menu, programs, and artists subject to change. Must be 21 or older to attend. Limit 4 General Admission tickets per person, per concert.
For help with Producer’s Passes, email [email protected]. For other details, contact the Box Office at 415.864.6000.
For information on becoming a SoundBox Sponsor, contact May Van Norman at [email protected] or 415.503.5475.
Andy Akiho
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Curator and Percussion
Andy Akiho is a Pulitzer Prize finalist and seven-time Grammy-nominated composer whose bold works unravel intricate and unexpected patterns while surpassing preconceived boundaries of classical music. He has earned international acclaim for his large-scale works that emphasize the natural theatricality of live performance. He is the only composer to be nominated for a Grammy in the Best Contemporary Classical Composition category in 2022, 2023, and 2024.
Recent highlights include the world premieres of several major works, most notably Nisei—a sweeping new concerto for cellist Jeffrey Zeigler—which headlined this year’s Sun Valley Music Festival. Another standout: Sculptures, a groundbreaking, triple Grammy-nominated work for the Omaha Symphony honoring renowned visual artist Jun Kaneko. Finally, BeLonging, a powerful new collaboration with Imani Winds with strong political undertones, also made highly acclaimed live and recorded debuts, receiving two Grammy nominations. Equally at home writing chamber music and symphonies, Akiho is the Oregon Symphony’s 2024-25 composer-in-residence.
Akiho has been recognized via many prestigious awards and organizations including the Rome Prize, American Academy of Arts and Letters, Lili Boulanger Memorial Prize, Harvard University Fromm Commission, Barlow Endowment, New Music USA, and Chamber Music America. His compositions have been featured by organizations such as Bang on a Can, American Composers Forum, The Intimacy of Creativity in Hong Kong, and the Heidelberg Festival.
An active steel pannist, Akiho has a deeply physical relationship with playing, which undoubtedly informs his compositions. His style is further shaped by his nontraditional path as a composer: having spent most of his 20s playing steel pan by ear in Trinidad and New York City, Akiho only began writing music at age 28. Still, these social and musical roots remain foundational. Akiho frequently composes into the late hours at coffee shops, nightclubs, and restaurants, taking breaks to get to know those around him. Similarly, he develops relationships with his collaborators, as he writes for people, not instruments.
Akiho was born in 1979 in Columbia, SC, and is currently based in Portland, OR and New York City.
Recent highlights include the world premieres of several major works, most notably Nisei—a sweeping new concerto for cellist Jeffrey Zeigler—which headlined this year’s Sun Valley Music Festival. Another standout: Sculptures, a groundbreaking, triple Grammy-nominated work for the Omaha Symphony honoring renowned visual artist Jun Kaneko. Finally, BeLonging, a powerful new collaboration with Imani Winds with strong political undertones, also made highly acclaimed live and recorded debuts, receiving two Grammy nominations. Equally at home writing chamber music and symphonies, Akiho is the Oregon Symphony’s 2024-25 composer-in-residence.
Akiho has been recognized via many prestigious awards and organizations including the Rome Prize, American Academy of Arts and Letters, Lili Boulanger Memorial Prize, Harvard University Fromm Commission, Barlow Endowment, New Music USA, and Chamber Music America. His compositions have been featured by organizations such as Bang on a Can, American Composers Forum, The Intimacy of Creativity in Hong Kong, and the Heidelberg Festival.
An active steel pannist, Akiho has a deeply physical relationship with playing, which undoubtedly informs his compositions. His style is further shaped by his nontraditional path as a composer: having spent most of his 20s playing steel pan by ear in Trinidad and New York City, Akiho only began writing music at age 28. Still, these social and musical roots remain foundational. Akiho frequently composes into the late hours at coffee shops, nightclubs, and restaurants, taking breaks to get to know those around him. Similarly, he develops relationships with his collaborators, as he writes for people, not instruments.
Akiho was born in 1979 in Columbia, SC, and is currently based in Portland, OR and New York City.
Members of the San Francisco Symphony
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PERCUSSION
Jacob Nissly
Stan Muncy
Marty Thenell
Brandon Topolski
VIOLIN
Jessie Fellows
Olivia Chen
Alexander Barantschik
David Chernyavsky
Melissa Kleinbart
Kum Mo Kim
Yuna Lee
Jeein Kim
VIOLA
Katie Kadarauch
CELLO
Anne Richardson
Barbara Bogatin
Davis You
Jacob Nissly
Stan Muncy
Marty Thenell
Brandon Topolski
VIOLIN
Jessie Fellows
Olivia Chen
Alexander Barantschik
David Chernyavsky
Melissa Kleinbart
Kum Mo Kim
Yuna Lee
Jeein Kim
VIOLA
Katie Kadarauch
CELLO
Anne Richardson
Barbara Bogatin
Davis You
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