{"id":125089,"date":"2026-06-12T14:22:35","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T18:22:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=125089"},"modified":"2026-06-12T14:22:35","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T18:22:35","slug":"interview-andrew-sterman-talks-philip-glass-ensemble-performing-toronto-part-luminato-festival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2026\/06\/12\/interview-andrew-sterman-talks-philip-glass-ensemble-performing-toronto-part-luminato-festival\/","title":{"rendered":"INTERVIEW | Andrew Sterman Talks About The Philip Glass Ensemble, Performing In Toronto As Part Of Luminato Festival"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The
The Philip Glass Ensemble – Andrew Sterman, centre (with flute) (Photo courtesy of PGE)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On June 20, 2026, the Philip Glass Ensemble will be performing as part of the Luminato Festival. The one-night only performance takes place at Koerner Hall.<\/p>\n

At the Toronto concert, they\u2019ll be focusing on The Early Works, a program of Philip Glass\u2019 acclaimed music from the period 1974 to 1984, including Glassworks, Dance 1 (Einstein on the Beach), Grid (Koyaanisqatsi), and Funeral (Akhnaten). The music was written for PGE, and is still performed exclusively by them.<\/p>\n

Philip Glass and the Philip Glass Ensemble<\/h2>\n

\u201dThe Philip Glass Ensemble represents the most authentic performance practice of my music in our time. I am looking forward to championing them as they carry it forward and bring its unique repertoire to new generations.\u201d \u2014 Philip Glass<\/p>\n

Philip Glass was born in Baltimore, and is a graduate of the University of Chicago and the Juilliard School. He subsequently studied in Paris with Nadia Boulanger for two years. During that time, he transcribed Ravi Shankar\u2019s music from Indian to Western notation.<\/p>\n

He founded the Philip Glass Ensembles in 1968, and his career was in full bloom by the mid 1970s. He composed the music for Einstein on the Beach, written with Bob Wilson, in 1976, and the work is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. The piece is regarded as a milestone in 20th century theatre, disrupting conventional notions of plot, staging, and what a musical score could be, and the Luminato performance is part of a worldwide celebration of the music.<\/p>\n

Glass has written music for opera, dance, theatre, chamber ensemble, orchestra, and films, and his work has garnered Academy Award nominations, along with a Golden Globe for The Truman Show score. In 2012, he received the Praemium Imperiale, the U.S. National Medal of the Arts from President Barack Obama followed in 2016, and the 41st Kennedy Center Honors in 2018.<\/p>\n

The Philip Glass Ensemble, or PGE, is made up of musicians handpicked by the groundbreaking composer.<\/p>\n

LV spoke to saxophonist\/flutist\/clarinetist, author, composer, and educator Andrew Sterman \u2014 General Manager and Performing Member \u2014 about PGE, the music, and the concert.<\/p>\n

Andrew Sterman: The Interview<\/h2>\n

Andrew Sterman has been a member of the Philip Glass Ensemble since 1992. He has toured and recorded with the Ensemble extensively alongside a busy performing career in NYC, including appearances with Frank Sinatra, Sarah Vaughan, Tony Bennett, Dizzy Gillespie, Freddie Hubbard, Rashied Ali, Fred Hersch, Bruce Springsteen, Kelly Clarkson, Leonard Cohen, the New York and Los Angeles Philharmonics, Bang on a Can, and other ensembles. His work can be heard on about 100 feature film scores, and many Broadway shows.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t there at the beginning of the Ensemble, but I’ve been with Philip for a long time, some 35 years,\u201d Sterman says. \u201cPhilip started an ensemble of his own to hear his music at all. It was such radical music, and it required a new way of thinking,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe needed a dedicated group of musicians who were willing to go on that journey.\u201d<\/p>\n

Glass\u2019 music required techniques and approaches that traditional orchestral training did not prepare for. \u201cSome of it’s more like painting than music,\u201d Andrew adds.<\/p>\n

Along with his focus on contemporary minimalism, Glass explored intermusical forms, influenced in part by his early association with Ravi Shankar.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe way I think of it to myself, playing Philips’s music myself and in close association for so many decades \u2014 new times required new art. And new art requires a new way of performance.\u201d<\/p>\n

PGE is made up of individuals who have learned to think together. \u201cWe have a shortcut way of thinking,\u201d he says. \u201cWe have a lightning fast response to each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

That includes both newer and veteran members of PGE. \u201cThere have been some brilliant new members over the last ten years,\u201d Sterman adds. Developing that group process doesn\u2019t come right away. \u201cIt does take a couple of years,\u201d he notes. \u201cIt takes a couple of years easily, if not longer, because there’s a performance practice that’s unique to Philip Glass Ensemble.\u201d<\/p>\n

Over time, the music world has learned about and accepted Glass and his music. \u201cNowadays a lot of people are performing his music all over the place,\u201d Andrew says. \u201cIt wasn’t like that [in the early days].\u201d<\/p>\n