Onstage: concert:nova

The dynamic ensemble concert:nova continues to celebrate the music of Steve Reich for their annual Composer Focus series. Reich’s “Pendulum Music,” “New York Counterpoint” and “Nagoya Mari

The dynamic ensemble concert:nova continues to celebrate the music of Steve Reich for their annual Composer Focus series. Reich’s “Pendulum Music,” “New York Counterpoint” and “Nagoya Marimbas” will be performed in the first half of The Music of Steve Reich

Ghanian drumming was a huge influence on Reich’s minimalist compositions and an African Folklore group led by Baoku Moses will provide a pre-concert drumming session. The program’s second half features the now-classic Reich composition “Tehillim,” Hebrew for “Psalms.” The first time I heard it, I was gobsmacked by the relentless, pulsating percussion propelling the minimal instrumental ensemble and a quartet of stratospheric sopranos capturing the essence of these wild, joyful and introspective biblical texts. 

7 p.m. $25 in advance; $30 at the door; $10 student. Pallet 23, 3930 Spring Grove Ave., Northside, concertnova.com.