Steve Reich: Different Trains at The Glasshouse | Preview
Steve Reich’s Different Trains comes to The Glasshouse Gateshead on 4 October 2026 during the Steve Reich at 90 festival weekend.
Steve Reich’s Different Trains comes to The Glasshouse in Gateshead on Sunday 4 October 2026 as part of the closing day of the Steve Reich at 90 festival weekend. The work combines live string quartet writing with recorded speech and train sounds, turning fragments of memory into one of Reich’s most affecting pieces.
The music grew from Reich’s childhood memories of train journeys across the United States and the contrasting thought of what similar journeys meant for Jewish children in wartime Europe. Recorded voices shape the melodic contours of the string writing, giving the piece an unusually direct relationship between speech, history and music.
Different Trains at The Glasshouse
Within the wider festival, this performance offers a different kind of intensity from the larger ensemble works. The focus is tighter and more personal, but the same concern with pulse, repetition and recorded sound remains central.
Event details
- Date: Sunday 4 October 2026
- Venue: The Glasshouse International Centre for Music, Gateshead
Current programme and ticket details are available through The Glasshouse’s official event page.
