Beneath Lighted Coffers: Concerto for Steel Pans & Orchestra

Reference Recordings proudly presents our first collaboration with the Oregon Symphony, in a spectacular live recording featuring composer and steel pannist Andy Akiho. His works on this album are Beneath Lighted Coffers, recorded on April 29, 30 & May 1, 2023, and Concerto for Steel Pans & Orchestra, recorded on October 5, 6 & 7, 2024. This album was engineered by Mark Donahue and produced by Blanton Alspaugh, both multi-GRAMMY® winners from Soundmirror, Inc.

Andy Akiho, born in 1979 in Columbia, South Carolina, is a “trailblazing”(Los Angeles Times) Pulitzer Prize finalist and seven-time GRAMMY®-nominated composer whose bold works unravel intricate and unexpected patterns while surpassing preconceived boundaries of classical music. Called “increasingly in-demand” by The New York Times, Akiho has earned international acclaim for his large-scale works that emphasize the natural theatricality of live performance. He is the only composer to be nominated for a GRAMMY® in the Best Contemporary Classical Composition category in 2022,2023, and 2024.

The multi- GRAMMY® Award nominated Oregon Symphony, led by Jean Vollum Music Director David Danzmayr, serves hundreds of thousands of people annually through concerts, education initiatives, and community programs. With a 129-year legacy, it is the sixth oldest orchestra in the United States, and oldest in the Western United States. Its home venue is the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall in downtown Portland’s Cultural District, where this album was recorded.

Andy Akiho – steel handpan
Oregon Symphony