ABOUT Douglas Perkins
SESSION TITLE: Performance of “Ilimaq” by John Luther Adams
Doug Perkins is a GRAMMY nominated percussionist, producer, and conductor who has been declared a “percussion virtuoso” by the New York Times. He has appeared at venues of all types including Carnegie Hall, the Barbican Center, and the Alaskan Tundra. Doug has commissioned and premiered myriad works from such composers as John Luther Adams, Tristan Perich, Michael Gordon, David Lang, Paul Lansky, Roshanne Etezady, Christian Wolff, Sofia Gubaidulina, Glenn Kotche, and Steve Reich. He founded the percussion quartet So Percussion, the Meehan/ Perkins Duo, and performs regularly with Ensemble Signal. Doug’s critically acclaimed recordings as a soloist, conductor, producer, and member of the Meehan/ Perkins Duo and So Percussion can be heard on the Bridge, Cantaloupe, and New Focus labels. He directed and produced John Luther Adams’ Inuksuit and it was named one of 2013’s top records by NPR, the New York Times, the Boston Globe, the New Yorker, and Time Out New York. His recording of Tristan Perich’s Parallels was named one of Rolling Stone’s 20 Best Avant Records of 2015 He conducted and produced Perich’s Drift Multiply which made 2020 “Best Of” lists of the New York Times, NPR, and more. His most recent recording of John Luther Adams’ Sila: The Breath of the World was nominated for a 2023 GRAMMY for Best Orchestral Performance. Organizing large-scale outdoor musical events that encourage new ways of experiencing live music has been central to Perkins’ work in the last decade. He brought Iannis Xenakis’ Persephassa to Central Park Lake and John Luther Adams’ music from Lincoln Center to the shores of California and the peaks of the Italian Alps. Doug’s most recent percussion project is Michael Gordon’s hour-long work for 36 percussionists entitled Field of Vision . Perkins is Associate Professor of Percussion/ Director of Percussion at the University of Michigan.
