Nexus is a

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

-based

percussion ensemble A percussion ensemble is a musical ensemble consisting of only percussion instruments. Although the term can be used to describe any such group, it commonly refers to groups of classically trained percussionists performing primarily classical ...

that performs standard percussion ensemble repertoire,

ragtime Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that flourished from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers such as Scott ...

music, world music,

contemporary classical music Contemporary classical music is classical music composed close to the present day. At the beginning of the 21st century, it commonly referred to the post-1945 modern forms of post-tonal music after the death of Anton Webern, and included se ...

and as a group, has performed as soloist with some of the top orchestras around the world. The ensemble was originally made up of

percussionist A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Excl ...

s Bob Becker, Bill Cahn, Robin Engelman, Russell Hartenberger, John Wyre and Michael Craden. Founding member Michael Craden died of liver cancer in 1982. John Wyre died in 2006 and was replaced by long-time professional colleague Garry Kvistad. Robin Engelman resigned from the group in December 2009 due to vision difficulties and died on February 26, 2016. The group formed in 1971 and debuted with a concert of entirely

improvised Improvisation is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. Improvisation in the performing arts is a very spontaneous performance without specific or scripted preparation. The skills of impr ...

music. In the mid-1970s the group recorded two albums with New Age music pioneer Paul Horn: ''Paul Horn and Nexus'' (1975) and ''Altura Do Sol'' (1976). Nexus played on the soundtrack of the 1974 film ''

The Man Who Skied Down Everest ''The Man Who Skied Down Everest'' is a documentary about Yuichiro Miura, a Japanese alpinist who skied down Mount Everest in 1970. The film was produced by Canadian film maker F. R. "Budge" Crawley. Miura skied 2,000 m (6,600 ft) ...

'', and appeared in the 1975 National Film Board movie ''Musicanada''. In 1982 the group released ''Nexus and Earle Birney'', a triple-album collaboration with noted Canadian poet Earle Birney. The group recorded an album for the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the governme ...

, Dance of the Octopus, in 1990 with harpist Judy Loman. In 1990, Japanese composer

Toru Takemitsu TORU or Toru may refer to: * TORU, spacecraft system * Toru (given name), Japanese male given name * Toru, Pakistan, village in Mardan District of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan * Tõru, village in Kaarma Parish, Saare County, Estonia {{disambig ...

wrote a concerto for percussion ensemble and

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

entitled '' From me flows what you call Time'' for the group. Dozens of other composers have written music specifically for Nexus and for individual members of Nexus, and the group's members are also composers and arrangers, writing for Nexus and, on occasion, for others. In addition to their regular concerts, the group also gives masterclasses and

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. ...

al performances. Russell Hartenberger is a professor emeritus at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institu ...

's Faculty of Music (Dean, Chair of Graduate Education, and Professor, Percussion). Robin Engelman was also a long-time staff member at the University of Toronto, where he mainly taught and conducted the percussion ensemble and the contemporary music ensemble.

Discography

Solo albums

* John Wyre: Vagabond Dream (Heron, 1991) * Bob Becker: There is a Time (Nexus, 1994) * William Cahn: Solo Percussionist Music (Nexus, 1996)

References

External links

Official website

Nexus
in

The Canadian Encyclopedia ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (TCE; french: L'Encyclopédie canadienne) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with the support of Canadian Heritage. Available f ...

Second article at The Canadian Encyclopedia
*
Robin Engelman's blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nexus Percussion ensembles Contemporary classical music ensembles Musical groups established in 1971