Andy Akiho

Andy Akiho (born February 7, 1979, Columbia, South Carolina) is an American musician and composer of contemporary classical music.

A virtuoso percussionist based in New York City, his primary performance instrument is steel pans.

He took interest in becoming a percussionist when his older sister introduced him to a drum set at the age of 9.

Akiho first tried his hand at the steel pan when he became an undergraduate at the University of South Carolina.

He began taking several trips to Trinidad after college to learn and play music.

From there, he started writing pieces of his own.

Akiho, who is of Japanese heritage, is a graduate of the University of South Carolina with a B.M. in percussion performance, the Manhattan School of Music with a M.Mus. in contemporary performance, and the Yale School of Music with a second M.Mus.

in composition.

He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in composition at Princeton University.

While he was an undergraduate, he was also a member of the Carolina Crown Drum and Bugle Corps of Fort Mill, South Carolina and then of The Cadets Drum and Bugle Corps of Allentown, Pennsylvania.

Akiho has tried to learn everything he could with what was available to him at the time as a percussionist while at the University of South Carolina.

He has played in a percussion ensemble as a classical percussionist, concert band, and in orchestras.

Akiho had also joined a local West African percussion ensemble, Brazilian drumming ensembles, and steel bands.

He began to realize once he finished at South Carolina that he truly loved playing the pans the most and from there he traveled to Trinidad several times without knowing anyone or having any connections.

He started by speaking to the locals telling them that he had really wanted to play the steel pan there.

During his first visit, he had stayed in Trinidad for five weeks playing with a big band who called themselves the PCS Starlift Steel Orchestra which was led by Ray Holman.

In the following year, he played with another steel orchestra called Phase II which was led by Len "Boogsie" Sharpe.

Akiho's interest and confidence in going in the direction of music composition was influenced by him doing the Bang on a Can Summer Festivals in 2007 and 2008.

Akiho has studied compositions with Julia Wolfe, David Lang (composer), and Michael Gordon (composer) and was greatly influenced by his teachers Christopher Theofanidis, Ezra Laderman, and Martin Bresnick at Yale School of Music.

Jacob Druckman’s “Come Round,” performed at the Manhattan School of Music played a huge role in influencing Akiho when he began composing.

Akiho is involved in a stage production collaboration with The Industry's director, Yuval Sharon, who re-imagines Bertolt Brecht’s play Life of Galileo by taking part in composing the original music for.

He found it challenging to collaborate with someone because he was used to doing abstract work to then working in a disciplined environment collaborating with someone who knew what they wanted.

The project gave him the feeling that he was writing music for a movie, which in turn inspired him to want to do more of those kinds of collaborative work.

Sources:

Akiho's early works were largely Caribbean-themed, folk and jazz based works for steel bands and steel pan players like himself.

With increased experience and education, he has evolved into a composer of contemporary concert music.

Sources:

NO one To kNOW one (Innova Recordings #801), 2011 – Performer and composer

In the summer of 2014, the Bluecoats performed to wALK Or ruN in wEst harlem.

In 2016, it was performed by The Battalion while Golden Empire, Legends, and Oregon Crusaders played NO one To kNOW one.

The War Below, 2018 – Composer

Seven Pillars, 2021 – Composer

Vicky Chow – AORTA (New Amsterdam Records) – Composer "Vick(i/y)"

Mariel Roberts – Nonextraneous Sounds (Innova Recordings #247) – Composer "Three Shades, Foreshadows"

RighteousGIRLS – Gathering Blue (Panoramic Recordings PAN03) – Composer "KARakurENAI"

Loadbang – Monodramas (Analog Arts AA1402) – Composer "Six Haikus"

Anthony de Mare – Liaisons: Re-Imagining Sondheim from the Piano (ECM Records 2470-72) – Arranger "Into the Woods"

Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra & Bright Sheng – Intimacy of Creativity – Five Year Retrospective (Naxos Records 8.573614-15) – Composer and performer "21 (Acoustic Version)"

Phillip O'Banion – Digital Divide (bcm&d Records 888295404686) – Composer "Stop Speaking"

An alumnus of two top Drum Corps International performing ensembles, Akiho is becoming a popular composer within the activity.