Masterworks 2 Discover Scheherazade

Joseph Giunta Conductor

One of America’s most distinguished, versatile and dynamic conductors, Joseph Giunta is a musician of international acclaim. He is recognized as an important American conductor for his innovative programming and for his compelling interpretations of traditional and new music. His musical depth combined with his boundless energy and contagious enthusiasm makes him one of the most respected and successful orchestra leaders in the United States.

Learn More About Maestro Giunta

Sandbox Percussion percussion

Described as “exhilarating” (The New York Times) and “utterly mesmerizing” (The Guardian), GRAMMY®-nominated ensemble Sandbox Percussion brings out the best in composers through their unwavering dedication to artistry in contemporary chamber music. Sandbox Percussion captivates audiences with performances that are both visually and aurally stunning, solidifying them as leaders in the fields of contemporary music and percussion. Brought together by their love of chamber music and the simple joy of playing together, Jonathan Allen, Victor Caccese, Ian Rosenbaum, and Terry Sweeney engage a wider audience for classical music through multidisciplinary collaborations with today’s leading artists.

Sandbox Percussion’s 2021 album Seven Pillars was nominated for two GRAMMY® awards — Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance and Best Contemporary Classical Composition. Nationally recognized as “as pure as music gets” (NY Times), Andy Akiho’s evening-length work with stage direction and lighting design by Michael Joseph McQuilken is Sandbox Percussion’s largest commission to date. In addition to the album, Sandbox Percussion commissioned 11 films that accompany each movement of the work.

Sandbox Percussion will perform Seven  Pillars over 15 times in the 2022-23 season, with sold-out stops throughout the United States and Europe. In October, Sandbox Percussion will perform the work live with the LA Dance Project and choreographer Benjamin Millepied at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris. Additional season highlights include upcoming performances of Viet Cuong’s Re(new)al with the Pacific Symphony and with the American Composer’s Orchestra at Carnegie Hall. This season, Sandbox Percussion will release two albums, featuring the music of composers Matt McBane and Jerome Begin.

In addition to maintaining an international performance schedule, Sandbox Percussion holds the position of ensemble-in-residence and percussion faculty at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and The New School’s College of Performing Arts, where they have created a curriculum with entrepreneurship and chamber music at its core. Sandbox Percussion has led masterclasses and coachings at prestigious music schools in the United States, including Curtis Institute, the Juilliard School, the Peabody Conservatory, and Cornell University. In 2016, Sandbox Percussion founded the annual NYU Sandbox Percussion Seminar — a week-long seminar that invites percussion students from around the globe to rehearse and perform today’s leading percussion chamber music repertoire.

In 2022, Sandbox Percussion launched their Creator Mentorship Program, a commissioning program that solicits proposals from early-career creators around the world. The selected creators are commissioned to create a new work for Sandbox Percussion, and given time, space, and funding for a year-long workshop and development period.

In 2020, Sandbox Percussion released their debut album And That One Too on Coviello Classics. The album features works by longtime collaborators Andy Akiho, David Crowell, Amy Beth Kirsten, and Thomas Kotcheff. 

Sandbox Percussion endorses Pearl/Adams musical instruments, Zildjian cymbals, Vic Firth sticks and mallets, Remo drumheads, and Black Swamp accessories.

IAN

Praised for his “spectacular performances” (Wall Street Journal), and his “unfailing  virtuosity” (Chicago Tribune), GRAMMY®-nominated percussionist Ian David Rosenbaum has developed a musical breadth far beyond his years.

As a passionate advocate for contemporary music, Mr. Rosenbaum has premiered over  one hundred new chamber and solo works. He has collaborated with and championed  the music of established and emerging composers alike.

Mr. Rosenbaum was nominated for three GRAMMY® awards in 2021 for his  performances on albums of music by Andy Akiho and Christopher Cerrone, including  two nominations for Seven Pillars, an album by Sandbox Percussion released on Aki  Rhythm Productions, a record label that Mr. Rosenbaum and Mr. Akiho founded in  2021.

In 2012 Mr. Rosenbaum joined the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Bowers  Program (formerly CMS Two) as only the second percussionist they have selected in  their history, and has performed regularly with CMS since then.

Highlights of the 2021-2022 season include the world premiere of Seven Pillars by  Andy Akiho with Sandbox Percussion, a collaboration with the Borromeo String  Quartet at the New England Conservatory, performances with pianist Michael Brown  and cellist Nick Cannellakis, and a performance of George Crumb’s seminal work  Ancient Voices of Children with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.

Mr. Rosenbaum is a founding member of Sandbox Percussion, the Percussion  Collective, and the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble. He has recorded for the Bridge,  Innova, Naxos, and Starkland labels and is on faculty at the Mannes School of Music  and the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Mr. Rosenbaum endorses Pearl/Adams  instruments, Vic Firth mallets, and Remo drumheads. 

JONNY

Jonny Allen is a Brooklyn based percussionist whose contagious passion for music has been described as “a demonstration of raw power, virtuosity and feeling” by The New York Times. Jonny has won prizes at both the International Chamber Music Competition and the International Marimba Competition in Salzburg, giving respective performances at Carnegie Hall and Schloss Hoch in Flachau, Austria. He has also performed as a drum set soloist with Ghana’s National Symphony Orchestra at the National Theatre in Accra. Outside of Sandbox, Jonny performs regularly with his jazz trio, Triplepoint, the Percussion Collective, and is a founding Core Member of the American Modern Opera Company (AMOC). He is also a committed educator, co-directing the NYU Sandbox Percussion Seminar each summer, holding a position as Percussion Director at Choate Rosemary Hall, as well as giving workshops and masterclasses worldwide. Jonny holds a Bachelor’s degree and Performer’s Certificate from the Eastman School of Music, as well as a Masters degree and Artist Diploma from the Yale School of Music.

TERRY

Terry Sweeney is an avid chamber musician and collaborator. In addition to Sandbox Percussion, Terry is a member of quaquaqua, and The Percussion Collective and has performed over 250 concerts across the United States.Recent projects include a world premiere of Seven Pillars, a percussion quartet by Andy Akiho, QUIXOTE – a multi-year collaboration with the theatrical ensemble HOWL, and a world premiere piano/percussion quintet by Chris Cerrone. Terry’s 2021/2022 season will feature world premieres by composers: Jessica Meyer, Tawnie Olson, Loren Loiacono, Molly Joyce, Tyshawn Sorey, and David Crowell. 

Sandbox released their debut album And That One Too on Coviello Classics in 2020. In 2021, Sandbox released Seven Pillars which was subsequently nominated for two GRAMMY® awards.

As an educator, Terry directs the percussion studies for the Yellow Barn Young Artist Program, is a faculty member at the University of Missouri Kansas City, co-directs the NYU-Sandbox Seminar, and during the 2019 Spring semester was a visiting artist at the University of Massachusetts. Terry holds degrees from the Peabody Conservatory and the Yale School of Music and endorses Pearl/Adams musical instruments, Zildjian cymbals, Vic Firth sticks and mallets, Remo drumheads, and Black Swamp accessories. 

VICTOR

Victor Caccese is a founding member of the Brooklyn-based percussion quartet, Sandbox Percussion and a GRAMMY® nominated percussionist. As a member of Sandbox, Victor has performed over 150 concerts worldwide and taught at institutions such as University of Missouri – Kansas City, The Peabody Conservatory, The Curtis Institute, Michigan State University, Vanderbilt University, University of Kansas, and University of Massachusetts Amherst. Victor has collaborated with composers such as Amy Beth Kirsten, Andy Akiho, David Crowell, James Wood, John Luther Adams, and Thomas Kotcheff. In the Fall of 2021, along with Sandbox Percussion, Victor will give the world premiere of an evening-length work by Andy Akiho entitled Seven Pillars.  Next summer Victor will teach and perform at the seventh annual NYU Sandbox Percussion Seminar, a chamber music festival accepting students from around the world to study and perform some of today’s leading contemporary percussion pieces.

Also a composer and arranger, Victor has written a number of pieces for percussion. His works have been performed by Sandbox Percussion more than 50 times throughout the United States. While music and percussion is at the core of his professional life, Victor has also worked as a photographer and videographer. As head of media and content development for Sandbox Percussion, he has developed and maintained a YouTube presence consisting of performance videos, workshop documentaries, and travel vlogs.

Victor holds degrees from the Peabody Conservatory and the Yale School of Music. He is also a member of The Percussion Collective, a stunning ensemble founded by performer and pedagogue Robert van Sice. Victor serves on faculty at the University of Missouri – Kansas City Conservatory as a percussion instructor and ensemble-in-residence with Sandbox Percussion. He also is on faculty at the Mahanaim School for Music in Huntington, NY and was a visiting artist at the University of Massachusetts Amherst with Sandbox Percussion as the ensemble in residence in the Fall of 2019. Victor endorses Pearl/Adams instruments, Vic Firth drumsticks, Remo drumheads, Zildjian Cymbals, and Black Swamp accessories.