Devon Schools Mix
BackBeat Percussion Quartet
BackBeat Percussion Quartet was formed in 1995, bringing together four outstanding performers;Simone Rebello, Damien Harron, Cormac Byrne and Harry Percy. They have performed prolifically throughout the UK and have travelled to countries such as Zimbabwe, USA, Switzerland, and Japan to entertain audiences with their imaginative programmes that resist categorization. Recent trips have included a fourth visit to Japan (their second national tour), a sell out appearance at the Cayman Arts Festival in the Caribbean and they will make be making their first tour of China this summer.
BackBeat established itself by winning a succession of awards at home and abroad:
Concert Artists Guild International Competition 2001 (USA), South East Music Schemes Competition 2000 (UK), Osaka Chamber Music Competition 1999 (Japan), Park Lane Group Competition 1998 (UK), and the Royal OverSeas League Ensemble Award 1997 (UK). These awards led to appearances in such prestigious venues as the Royal Festival Hall (London) and Weill Hall, Carnegie Hall (New York).
BackBeat’s recording activities have included two highly successful CDs and numerous television and radio broadcasts. Highlights have included a televised performance of their BBC Prom debut in 2002 and a concert broadcast in its entirety on Japanese national T.V. Part of the quartet’s 2001 winning performance at the CAG competition in New York was broadcast on US national radio. The group also performed to a global audience in 1999 in a live broadcast from Westminster Abbey in the presence of HRH the Queen.
As well as composing much of their own repertoire, BackBeat has commissioned many leading composers to write for them. Through its performance activities and highly commended education programme it is firmly committed to raising the profile of percussion playing as an artistic medium.
