Christian Benning Percussion

Percussion storm 

Steve Reich – Six Marimbas:
From the frenetic pace of the performance, tranquil soundscapes emerged, the whole room seemed to rise and fall. Overtones seemed to glow. A truly memorable experience.

Südwestpresse Ulm, Udo Eberl, 20.04.2026

Full of energy, surprise and highly musical:

The combination of tradition and experimentation was masterfully executed. […] The concert was a feast for the senses – acoustically, visually and emotionally. An evening that redefined the diversity of classical music […] an evening full of wonder, full of energy and full of music that you do not only hear, but feel.

Westfälische Nachrichten, Axel Engels, 24.11.2025 

Virtuoso throughout the epochs

Previously, the five musicians [...] drummed skilfully, sometimes softly and melodiously, sometimes dynamically and explosively.

A drum performance featuring various styles, eras and genres. [...] And new interpretations such as Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata are fascinating. Arranged by Peter Lawrence for the Benning Ensemble, played on two marimbas and a vibraphone. [...] And also swinging like in jazz.

Wolfsburger Nachrichten, Hans Karweik,  13.01.2025

Unbridled enthusiasm 

The ‘Christian Benning Percussion Group’ performed their new programme ‘BEAThoven’ and, with their unbridled enthusiasm and exceptional technical and musical expressiveness, irresistibly drew the audience’s attention to themselves and the music.

Wolfsburger Allgemeine Zeitung, Heinz-Werner Kemmling, 15.01.2025

A sensational performance in Corvey 

The audience witnessed the utmost concentration and precision, as well as a rousing and virtuoso performance with mallets and beaters. Everyone in the hall was captivated by the extraordinary soundscapes and could almost physically feel the music.

Höxteraner Kreisblatt, Dagmar Koch and Michael Robrecht, 03.09.024

Christian Benning Percussion Group captivates in Aschaffenburg

The audience was electrified and fascinated how precise and powerful the internationally renowned percussion ensemble translated Beethoven's 'Moonlight Sonata' into modern musical language: into groovy and funky marimba, drums, conga and vibraphone sounds that got under your skin.

Main Post, Melanie Pollinger, 27.06.2023

A fascinating sound journey

Fascinating how the four mallets, which everyone has in their hands, scurry across the bars [....] Thundering rhythms and a variety of sounds enter into a fascinating symbiosis and in the frenzied finale the sky seems to explode - then breathless silence until the audience claps, stamps and whistles.

Coesfelder Allgemeine Zeitung, Ursula Hoffmann, 20.02.2024

Beethoven dared quite differently

Christian Benning's complements instrumental virtuosity, demonstrated with technical precision and finesse, through gentle, graceful play, in which the hall holds its breath with tension and pure emotion. The 24-year-old percussionist from Munich has mastered this balance between perfection and emotion like a master. [...] His eloquent moderation and his video concept with live cameras on and above the stage, which keep changing the perspective and changing thus also made a completely different concert experience possible. […]
A breathtaking arrangement of the famous "Moonlight Sonata" by Beethoven for two marimbas, vibraphone, bass marimba and drum arranged for the Christian Benning Percussion Group by Peter Lawrence, has rocked the audience.

<link http: www.hamburg-magazin.de>www.hamburg-magazin.de, 22.01.2020

Christian Benning Percussion Group in Werne

It was more of a big show than an intimate concert. And yet it was a chamber concert in the sense of instrumental music in a small ensemble. [...] At first, individual highlights are ignited, emphasised by effective silences in between; towards the end, the concentrated power of the spectacle is unleashed. The ensemble innovatively combined classical music with instruments that did not even exist at the time of Mozart, Beethoven or Ravel.

Werne Plus, Anke Schwarz, 16.02.2024

Elbphilharmonie Hamburg

A very special highlight of the evening was “Musique de Table” by Thierry De Mey. All six musicians sat next to each other at a long table and only played with their fingers and hands.
The ensemble put the individual voices together in a very musical way and always kept the perfect tuning, even if the rhythmic pulse was not played audibly and the required
playing techniques of tapping, stroking, clapping and combinations of these required a lot of concentration.
All this resulted in a captivating staging of the play, and the audience rewarded it hilariously here as well.

www.orchestergraben.com, Stefan Pillhofer, 13.05.2022

Dancing Rumba with Beethoven in Havanna

The musicians are playing the 2nd movement from Beethoven's 7th Symphony with finely tuned dynamics and chamber music quality, but also let the dance temperament glow authentically implementing enthusiastically Joachim Horsley's Beethoven in Havana. The ensemble also fascinates with contemporary drum music. […] Casey Cagelosi's Bad touch is the only visual thing in the darkened room. Christian Benning moves his hands and stick in a virtuoso pantomime to a playback with rhythmic noises. Very impressive. […] Thierry de Mey's Musique de table is an acoustic and optical pleasure in a class of its own. Standing ovations and loud cheers.

Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung, Claus-Ulrich Heinke, 13.10.2020

Fireworks of sound with Christian Benning & Percussion Group

With exuberant playfulness and confident playing techniques, Christian Felix Benning explored all the melodic and dynamic possibilities of each individual instrument and extended them to unprecedentedly innovative effects. He elicited a multi-movement suite of a snare drum by the use of his arms and hands, including various drumsticks, which themselves turned back into sound producers. [...] In the Black Light Theatre he visualized sounds from the playback in a sort of magic show as synchronously as if they were springing from his hands [...] In duos, trios, quartet and quintet formations with hand percussion, lyrical themes from the vibraphone, singing resonances of the marimba to hot samba his percussion group interacted with a sensitive interplay. Two encores for the fully enthusiastic audience.

Münchner Merkur, Thomas Schaffert, 30.10.2019

A drum roll for Bach

Christian Benning is one of the most gifted percussion talents
of our time. Whether drum set, marimba or with a solo drum, Benning
convinces with extraordinary playing culture, rousing rhythms and
unbelievable tempo. Together with the four first-rate young professionals,
the ensemble burned a real musical firework with music by Chick Corea,
Iannis Xenakis and Mark Glendworth. [...] Music by J.S. Bach and Mozart's
"Alla turca" finally drew the audience into standing ovations.

Main Post, Stefan Kritzer, 01.05.2019

Four musicians, 100 instruments

The exceptional musical talent Christian Benning and his ensemble set off
a firework of rhythms and sounds [...] Like wings of hummingbirds, the
coloured felt sticks of their mallets flutter on the wooden sound bars of
marimba and drums in Nebojša Jovan Živković's Setup trio. [...] In the
German first performance of Paul Lansk's "Treads" every action is timed,
hands easily reach right and left, whirling the drumsticks like machines at
an impressive speed. Benning's colleagues are just as convincing with their
precision.

Süddeutsche Zeitung, Petra Neumaier, 10.02.2019

Benning lets the drums dance

Christian Benning and his percussionists fully exploited
the range of percussion instruments and made the program
very varied. The stylistic variety ranged from arranged classical
pieces to standard works to a threesome played on one drum or
African sounds. [...] The young musicians showed excellent timing,
sense of rhythm, virtuosity and empathy and played with elan and
with a lot of fun at the music. [...] Stormy applause and bravos.

Münchner Merkur, Susanna Morper, 11.07.2016

Exceptional percussion talent in Dachau:

As soon as he plays, the audience is captivated by him. [...] He always manages to elicit completely new timbres from instruments. Lets the triplets rattle down evenly like quiet rattling or can even imitate the rattling and rattling of an old steam locomotive as in the play "Le Train" by Dante Agostini. In his own composition "Footsteps" he amazes with ever new more difficult rhythm combinations on the drums, constantly switching back and forth with both feet between several cymbals and drums.

Süddeutsche Zeitung, Viktoria Hausmann, 21.05.2021

Percussion storm

Steve Reich – Six Marimbas:
From the frenetic pace of the performance, tranquil soundscapes emerged - the whole room seemed to rise and fall. Overtones seemed to glow. A truly memorable experience.

Südwestpresse Ulm, Udo Eberl, 20 April 2026