Tuesday, April 2, 2024
7:00 pm
Rialto Center for the Arts
Miriamic Canons (2023)
Brian Graiser (b. 1986)
Karma Allen, Dylan Mantione, Julian Mitchell & Thomas Philpot
“Miriamic Canons” was written for Dr. John Lane (Sam Houston State University) and his Sam Houston Percussion Group to premiere at the 2017 Percussive Arts Society International Convention (the performers were SHSU undergraduates Lia Claus, Joeisha Foreman, Jacob Perales, and Eric Roberson). He had requested a quartet which would be easy to transport from Texas to Indiana, and the idea of a tambourine quartet quickly emerged with the added goal of incorporating several of the extended tambourine techniques championed by Christopher Deane. The piece was inspired by the Biblical account of Miriam leading the women of Israel in tambourine-accompanied song after the Exodus across the Red Sea, and the recurring “melodic” motive is actually a phonetic representation of the Hebrew text of her song: “Shiru l’Adonai ki-ga’oh ga'ah soos v’rochvo ramah vayam” (“Sing to the LORD, for He has triumphed gloriously! The horse and its rider He has thrown into the sea!”).
8 from Postludes (2013)
III. Hymns for Lakeland
Elliot Cole (b. 1984)
Julian Mitchell, Nasir O’Daniel, Thomas Philpot & Elaijah Stachelrodt
Postludes is a book of eight pieces for a familiar instrument played in a new way: four players, with eight double-bass bows, play interlocking lines on a single vibraphone. The interplay of bows and hands tapping, muting and touching harmonics, weaves an intimate and intricate counterpoint that is as beautiful to watch as it is to hear: fragile, tender and haunting.
- Program Note by So Percussion
Check out another movement from the same piece!
Credo in US (1942)
John Cage (1912-1992)
Shelby Brooks, Jay Cutter, Will Flinner & Jake Flack
This work was originally used as music for the eponymous choreographed piece by Merce Cunningham and Jean Erdman, following the phraseology of the dance. It is the first instance wherein Cage uses records or radios, and also incorporates music of other composers (he suggests Dvorak, Beethoven, Sibelius, or Shostakovich). He described the work as a suite with a satirical character. Erdman recalls that for the first performance, a 'tack-piano' was used (a piano with thumbtacks inserted into the felt of the hammers). The pianist mutes the strings at times or plays the piano body (as a percussionist).
Shell (2019)
Emma O’Haloran (b. 1985)
Shelby Brooks, Jay Cutter, Will Flinner & Dylan Mantione
SHELL was inspired by the work of photojournalist Seph Lawless who has traveled the United States capturing images of abandoned shopping malls. Seph writes that “there’s a certain feeling evoked from places that should be full of people but are now empty and decaying. Before online shopping, these were vibrant communal places, now the emptiness is amplified.” In the program note for SHELL, composer Emma O’Halloran writes that “every so often, I listen to a version of Toto’s ‘Africa’ that has been remixed to sound like it’s playing in an empty mall. In this increasingly virtual world, it conjures up a scenario that is strangely comforting, something to hold on to when we feel like we’re losing parts of ourselves. For this piece, I wanted to recreate that feeling, to project a moment of warmth and nostalgia into the world. SHELL is about remembering these ghostly spaces in their former glory, full of life and laughter.”
Denkyem (2013)
Joe W. Moore III (b.1986)
Nick Coppola, Talisa Harris, Dylan Mantione, Nasir O’Daniel, Zyler Osborn & Elaijah Stachelrodt
Denkyem is the West African "Adinkra" symbol for the crocodile, and refers to the animal's adaptive ability to breathe air but live under water. This idea of adaptability is used throughout the piece as the motive material is passed from player to player, adapting to the instruments used and the ever-changing time signatures.
Director bios
Dr. Stuart Gerber
Lauded as having “consummate virtuosity” by The New York Times, percussionist Stuart Gerber has worked with many important composers including George Lewis, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Kaija Saariaho, and Steve Reich, and has recorded for Innova and Mode records, among others. Recent appearances include: KLEX Fest (Kuala Lumpur), the Montreal New Music Festival, Electronic Music Malta, the Cervantino Festival (Guanajuato, Mexico), the Now Festival (Tallinn, Estonia), the Spoleto Festival (Charleston), and the Savannah Music Festival. Stuart is Professor of Percussion at Georgia State University and is the Co-Artistic Director of the contemporary ensemble Bent Frequency.
Dr. Kellen King
Dr. Kellen King is currently an Artist Affiliate at Georgia State University and Reinhardt University. Prior to his appointment at GSU and RU, he was Assistant Professor of Music and Director of Percussion Studies at Western Oregon University. Kellen has been published in Percussive Notes and has presented at OMEA in 2021 and 2022 in addition to performing at PASIC, TMEA, and MMC. He is currently a member of the Percussive Arts Society Music Technology Committee and has previously served as the Oregon PAS Chapter Secretary, winning the PAS Outstanding Chapter Award during his service. Kellen is an avid educator, researcher, and well-versed performer in classical and contemporary percussion, having spent most of career focusing on solo, chamber, and electroacoustic music. As an educator, Kellen has previously instructed at Western Oregon University, Mercer University, The University of Texas at Austin, Ithaca College, and Cornell University.