Downtown Concert Series-Kicking off the Fourth Season With a Bang!

EXIT 9 percussion group is a leading ensemble in the contemporary music scene, tapping diverse expertise to create a fresh, unconventional sound. Whether performing ragtime xylophone, steel pan calypso, West African drumming, or premiering exciting newly commissioned works, EXIT 9 is devoted to performing invigorating and innovative percussion works.

Members Peter Saleh, Kenneth Riehman, Mike Ramsey and Britton Matthews are committed to the culture of music from across the globe, including Africa, Asia, South America, and the Caribbean. Exit 9 members have traveled worldwide, not only as performers, but also as students of music, constantly exploring the musical traditions of new cultures.

Formed in the spring of 2002 as the graduate percussion quintet of Rutgers University in New Jersey, the group has taken its unique contemporary percussion sound to tens of thousands of people around the world. In 2002 and 2004, Exit 9 was featured at the Jeju Band Festivals at Seoul National University in South Korea; in 2004, Exit 9 was awarded grand prize at the Chesapeake Chamber Music Festival. Prominent artist billings include the 2004, 2005 and 2009 Eastern Shore Music Festivals in Easton, Maryland, and the Montclair Art Museum in New Jersey. The ensemble has performed at The Juilliard School, McCarther Theater, Western Washington University, George Street Play House and Two Rivers Theater.

Notable collaborations include artist and marimbist Simon Boyar, composers Brett Dietz and Bruce Hamilton, choreographer Christian Von Howard, and the New Jersey Arts Collective.

Currently based in the greater New York area, the ensemble has performed hundreds of clinics in schools and community centers. Exit 9 Percussion Group is artist-in-residence for the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University. 

For ticket and season information, visit the Downtown Concert Series at www.downtownconcertseries.org