When Sō Percussion played their first show of 2026 at Libby Gardner Concert Hall as part of the Utah Presents series in Salt Lake City yesterday, it was easier to focus on all they had to showcase. With only short explanations between four lengthy compositions — including two they’d never played in front of a live audience before — the majority of their 75-minute performance was devoted to sharing their vast creativity. Put another way, they got out of the way for the music.
To call what the quartet does “redefined chamber music” doesn’t seem enough of an explanation. Drums were played, yes, but so were marimbas and glockenspiels. Tapped together rocks were even played in unison, as were transistor radios. And when they memorably played the piano, they did so together, one member on the keys, one plucking strings like a harp, one tapping on the wood with a mallet, and another hitting strings with another mallet. Sometimes a casual slap across the wood took place. It was riveting to watch and hear, possibly because you never could tell where the end of the pieces would land.
The quartet is at the top of its craft. Period. Before they took final bows, there were at least 25 players on stage, including many University of Utah student-musicians. Together, they made such sweet music together, an aural as well as audiovisual display, that it felt a bit sad that they stopped when it felt like they were still getting started. It felt like part concert, part art exhibition.
I wanted to invite David Lynch back from his final resting place, if not because he’d have the ears to appreciate their music, then to quickly make room on a future film soundtrack of his, sharing with the world what they are able to do. It’d only be right.
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