In C Remixed is the result of a huge labor of love, springing from a desire to create something memorable and magical from the score of In C. The awesome young musicians from the Grand Valley State University New Music Ensemble have teamed up with some of the most imaginative DJ’s, remixers and composers to realize not only one of the best In C performances ever, but also some ‘alternate universe’ In C’s that got me smiling, beaming and sometimes amazed. A new revelational viewpoint on a piece that has been turned every way but loose over the past 45 years. -- Terry Riley

Top Ten Classical Recording of 2009
This recording, a fine sophomore effort from the GVSU ensemble, brings a new twist by having Terry Riley's hypnotic, repetitive piece reimagined by other composers, from DJ Spooky to Nico Muhly. --Anne Midgette, Washington Post. Complete list HERE.

Top Ten Classical Recording of 2009
Best of 2009 Year in Review
Minimalist mastermind Terry Riley had a welcome revival. His groundbreaking 1964 composition In C received the deluxe treatment from Sony in a new reissue, as well as a blistering double-disc set courtesy of Grand Valley State University’s New Music Ensemble, In C Remixed. Anchored by a sprightly, fluid interpretation of the original by the young group across Lake Michigan, remixes from the likes of David Lang, Nico Muhly and Wilco’s Glenn Kotche dazzled. --Mia Clarke, Time Out Chicago. Complete articles HERE and HERE.

Best Release list 2009
With the one-two punch of Music for 18 Musicians and now In C Remixed, Ryan has positioned himself and Grand Valley State University New Music Ensemble at the forefront of contemporary repertory groups, alongside other established groups including Kronos Quartet, Alarm Will Sound, So Percussion, Bang on a Can and Germany's Ensemble Modern. --John Kelman, All About Jazz. Complete review HERE and HERE.

Top Ten New Music Release of 2009 (#2), Newsounds Listener Poll
A group that is no stranger to these top ten programs, the Grand Valley State University New Music Ensemble burst out of nowhere, well, specifically out of the farmlands of western Michigan, a couple of years ago with their recording of Steve Reich's classic piece Music for 18 Musicians, and really just took the new music world by storm. This ensemble is back, and they've got another minimalist classic in tow, Terry Riley's In C. --John Schaefer, host. Hear the entire show HERE

The members of Grand Valley State's ensemble play with a confident swing that suggests they understand these links implicitly. It's also why this new release offers not just their own astute performance but also 18 remixes by a collection of big names, such as DJ Spooky and Pulitzer winner David Lang...This isn't Grand Valley's first success, either: it proved its mettle in 2007 by releasing a lush version of Steve Reich's Music for 18 Musicians. The album cover for that recording featured a bird's-eye view of an agrarian expanse—as if signaling a flight from the world of philharmonics to one of plowshares. To put it another way, these kids are a trip. --Seth Colter Walls, Newsweek. Complete article HERE

The Grand Valley State University New Music Ensemble - the band of Michigan undergraduates whose CD of Steve Reich's "Music for 18 Musicians" was the surprise new-music hit of 2007 - has struck again. This wonderfully far-ranging CD offers a theme-and-variations take on Terry Riley's minimalist classic "In C," as mixed and reinterpreted by 18 composers and DJs, and the results are fascinating. "In C," it turns out, is capable of being taken in any one of countless directions, from gleaming electronica to aggressive rock-tinged outbursts to cloudy dreamscapes, all while maintaining its recognizable identity. --Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle. Complete review HERE.

The 17 players of the Grand Valley ensemble play with giddy exuberance and energy, rhythmic drive and an exceptional tonal blend, producing a bright, reedy wash and several effective crests of emotions. --Mark Stryker, Detroit Free Press. Complete review HERE.

In C, the "Louie Louie" of contemporary classical music, turns forty-five this year. There've been birthday performances aplenty, but nothing reveals the potential of the work better than the Grand Valley State University New Music Ensemble's In C Remixed, which subjects the group's own luminous version to eighteen wild and beautiful reimaginings. --Richard Gehr, Village Voice

Of course, this ’simple’ concept would have quickly gone awry if either GVSU faltered or its collection of remixers weren’t a creative bunch of talented genre-busters. Happily, the ensemble has their finger on the ‘pulse’ of Riley’s music. Happier still, they’ve enlisted some A-list collaborators. --Christian Carey, Sequenza 21. Complete review HERE.

One can hardly think of a more imaginative and appropriate way to pay tribute to the genius of Terry Riley. --All Music Guide. Complete review HERE.

The GVSU New Music Ensemble's interpretation of Steve Reich's seminal "Music for 18 Musicians" was one of the most astounding recent success-stories in the contemporary music world...while the world was still trying to catch its breath, they were already fostering a new idea: Equally influential as "18 Musicians", Terry Riley's "In C" has proven far more than the novelty-hit some predicted it to be. In fact, it has turned out an ongoing popular favourite both on stage and the studio and one of those select works bridging the divide between the "serious" and "popular" music camps. Instead of just presenting another version, Ryan opted for a potentially even more exciting option: He curated a string of remixes to be made from a version he recorded with the GVSU. The result is now out as a double-CD on Innova Records and expands upon Riley's vision. While remixers like Jack Dangers and Zoe Keating have stayed faithful to the original, while giving it a discreet spin, Michael Lowenstern awards the pulse a physical funk and tightens the textures to a floating sheet of Ambient strings. Newspapers are already queuing up, Riley has nodded in approval - the success story is bound to continue. --Tobias Fischer, Tokafi. Complete review/interview HERE.

No wonder this outfit’s attracted a national buzz, playing recently in New York City. Grand Valley’s innovative, contemporary music ensemble directed by Bill Ryan tackles minimalist composer Terry Riley’s piece with aplomb, teaming with DJs and remixers for a double-CD that’s as classical-cool as 2007’s much-admired “Music for 18 Musicians.” --John Sinkevics, Grand Rapids Press

Following their surprise chart hit with Steve Reich’s "Music for 18 Musicians," Bill Ryan and his young Michigan conservatory players weren’t satisfied with recording a lush, 21-minute version of the elastic "In C." This two-CD set also features 18 song-like remixes that reinterpret elements of that piece in wonderfully atmospheric, subtly grooving ways...Listening to the pieces is like having a recurring dream where memories morph from night to night. --Bradley Bambarger, New Jersey Star-Ledger

I just love this new record...it's a good example of classical music in the age of web 2.0 --Tom Huizenga, Music Producer, National Public Radio, on All Things Considered

The GVSU were the ensemble who gave us a terrific new recording of another early Minimalist classic, Steve Reich's Music for 18 Musicians, not long ago, and they are in the same fine form here. Their ensemble includes many percussion instruments and seems to be considerably smaller than the 30+ Riley referred to, but the lean, sparkling sound works perfectly and gives the music the same joyful bounce that the composer's original version did...The creations here contrast and play off of each other so excitingly that even at two hours' length, working off a piece that is based on repetition, the music keeps springing surprises. --Ung-Aang Talay, Bangkok Post Complete review HERE.

Happily, each of these 16 tracks treats Riley's material with affection and high spirits while projecting their own individual viewpoints...Best of all, however, is the original In C itself, where the Grand Valley State University New Music Ensemble under Bill Ryan presents one of the most colorful, texturally varied, rhythmically incisive, and intensely expressive renditions I've ever experienced, live or on disc. It may be brief (20 minutes), but it has a lot to say. If you're an In C fan, you'll surely want this stimulating and exceptionally well-engineered release. --Jed Distler, ClassicsToday.com Complete review HERE.

This utterly logical but wildly original new two-disc set takes Riley’s “In C” and presents 19 remixes of it, “extensions,” who knows what all. What happens here is more than just, say, variations on a waltz theme by Diabelli— it’s taking one of the most influential pieces of music in our time and using it as an inspiration, in much the same completely individual way that The Who did when “In C” went into the stew that came out “Baba O’Riley.” The result is terrific. --Jeff Simon, Buffalo News. Complete review HERE.

Fifty Steps to Simple Happiness
#35. Download In C Remixed,the new tribute album to Terry Riley’s Minimalist stoner classic conceived on a San Francisco bus in 1964 and still your brain’s best chill-out soundtrack. --New York Magazine. Complete list HERE.

Long a staple of pop music, the remix phenomenon has been intermittently invading the classical world. And though such creative piggybacking usually yields little more than novelty, this set of 18 riffs on Riley is an engaging creative statement in its own right...The stylistic range runs from the bright dance mix of Mason Bates to some semi-tortured drones from David Lang. In between, there's Steve Reich-style counterpart from D.J. Spooky, the light, jingly musical snow of Phil Kline, witty mini-melodies from Todd Reynolds, lots of industrial noise and backward tape loops from Glenn Kotche. This is not only a good cross-section of downtown composers, but a consistent pleasure to hear. --David Patrick Stearns, Philadelphia Inquirer. Complete review HERE.

This is a piece which is guaranteed to be different in each performance, yet always recognizable and always new. I must confess that I don’t think all of the artists involved in this project added significantly to the concept, but it is intriguing that musicians from such a broad spectrum have been influenced by this work and have wanted to make it their own. --David Olds, The WholeNote. Complete review HERE.

As for the actual In C performance, it’s far too short—only 20 minutes!—but it’s a very good one: the performers attack the music with such excitement it feels like the piece is new, and a variety of performance approaches (from classical to jazzy and everywhere in between) fits Riley’s utopian aesthetic extremely well. -- Rob Haskins, American Record Guide

Forty-six years after its debut, In C is somehow both underappreciated and more influential than ever. Grand Valley State University New Music Ensemble has done the piece justice, with not only a novel interpretation but by successfully engineering such exciting remixes, showcasing the broad influence of this mid-twentieth century masterpiece. The rare, successful classical remix album, In C Remixed, will likely be the new benchmark for such crossover attempts, and it comes highly recommended. --Joseph Sannicandro, The Silent Ballet. Complete review HERE.

...The result is a wildly colored, prismatic view of Riley's masterpiece. The actual performance by this mostly-student band, led by the indefatigable Bill Ryan, is a story in itself. A school ensemble from the farmlands of the Midwest, the GVSU band burst upon an unsuspecting new music scene with their 2008 recording of Steve Reich's Music for 18 Musicians, making to the top of many critics' year-end lists. This sophomore effort proves that initial unlikely success was no fluke. --John Schaefer, Emusic. Complete review HERE.