Percussionist and Conservatory alumnus Cory Bracken (B.Mus., percussion performance) appeared at Cornelia Street Café in Greenwich Village as part of the “Contagious Sounds” concert series and received a nice write-up in the Sept. 6, 2013, edition of The New York Times. Curated by Vicky Chow, the fine Canadian pianist noted for her work with the Bang on a Can All Stars, “Contagious Sounds” provides a stage for emerging composers and performers of which Bracken is a fine exemplar. Performing with the Iktus Percussion Ensemble, Bracken’s talents as both composer and performer were fully on display and drew the attention of Times critic Steve Smith, who described Bracken’s “For Georgie James” as “a limpid meditation for a quartet of percussionists bowing a single vibraphone.” His solo work on his unique composition “REAL ADULT,” brandishing a kitchen implement at the snare drum, was even captured in one of the article’s featured photographs.
