Towards Midnight: NZ Percussion Vol 2

Justin DeHart

RELEASE DATE: AUGUST 1

This second volume in Justin DeHart's series of New Zealand percussion music features recently commissioned works by Gareth Farr, John Psathas, Phil Dadson, James Gardner, and Antonia Barnett McIntosh, artists whose contribution to NZ percussion music has been profound.

This collection of recordings celebrates the collaborative spirit of artistic expression and connection, a programme of works that explore the wonder and uniqueness of the space and time we all live in. On a practical level, the title refers to the time when Justin typically started recording each piece, when the spaces were relatively free from outside noise, but it also alludes to an unknown future in the hope that, in some small way, this music may inspire a more compassionate and sensitive consciousness in the world.

Commissioned, performed, produced, recorded, mixed and mastered by Justin DeHart
This album was made possible with funding assistance from Creative New Zealand
Design by UnkleFranc
Printed by Studio Q

Released: 01 August 2024
Catalogue: RAT-D150

From Sacramento, California, Justin is a GRAMMY-nominated performer of contemporary musical styles from classical to pop and from world to electronic. He was a member of the Los Angeles Percussion Quartet (LAPQ) from 2009 to 2022, and his musical resume includes performances with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, LA Phil New Music Group, I.C.E., red fish blue fish, and pop legends Stewart Copeland and Cheap Trick. Justin was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship for percussion studies in India, and his talents have been featured at concerts around the globe.

Justin appears on over 100 solo, chamber and contemporary releases on MCA, Sony, Mode, Innova, Sono Luminus, Albany, New World, HatHut, Rattle, Populist, Bridge, Sub Pop, and Skunk Records. His debut solo album entitled Strange Paths on Innova Recordings (works by Brian Ferneyhough, Iannis Xenakis, Michael Gordon and Stuart Saunders Smith) was lauded as “mesmerizing” by Percussive Notes for his “palette of sounds and intricate weaving of lines.” The Complete Early Percussion Works of Karlheinz Stockhausen on MODE Records won the Deutscheschallplattenkritikpreis for the best new music release in 2015. Justin was a finalist for Te Kaipuoro Inamata Toa | Best Classical Artist Aotearoa Music Award for his 2021 Rattle debut, L andfall: New Zealand Percussion Volume 1.

Justin holds a B.M. degree from CSU Sacramento, an M.F.A. from the California Institute of the Arts, and a D.M.A. from UC San Diego. An Associate Professor of Music at the University of Canterbury (Christchurch, NZ), Justin is a YAMAHA Performing Artist and an endorser of Black Swamp Percussion, REMO, Sabian, and Innovative Percussion Inc.