UCSB’s always exciting Percussion Ensemble (Jon Nathan, director) has added dance to the mix, to make its next concert even more compelling.
At 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 3, in Lotte Lehmann Concert Hall (UCSB), the Percussion Ensemble will present Ritual and Ceremony: Chamber Music for Percussion, Piano, and Dance.
Special guest artists include choreographer Christina McCarthy and dancers from UCSB’s Department of Theater and Dance; pianists Leslie Cain and Sio Tepper; trombonist Dylan Aguiler; and Nick Diamantides, marimba and percussion.
The fascinating, eclectic program includes:
Paul Creston‘s Ceremonial for Percussion Ensemble and Piano, Opus 103 (1972); Alan Hovhaness‘s Mysterious Horse Before the Gates for Trombone and Percussion, Opus. 205 (1964); and David Skidmore‘s Ritual Music for Four Percussionists (2004).
Also, Ivan Trevino‘s Catching Shadows (2013); Michael Laurello‘s Spine for Piano and Three Percussionists (2014); two works by Christopher Rouse; and Carlos Chavez‘s genre-creating Toccata (1942).
Alas, verbal exegesis is even more irrelevant with percussion music than with most compositions. I have heard most of these works, and I assure you their appeal is direct and visceral; listening requires no prep or background whatsoever.
Nathan’s taste is so good, it’s uncanny. Percussion and dance being both based on rhythmic patterns, the melding of the two arts seems inevitable.
Tickets to the Percussion Ensemble are $10 general admission, $5 for non-UCSB students (with ID), and free for UCSB students (with ID) and for children under age 12.
Tickets available at the door, at the AS Ticket Office window (UCEN Room 1535, across from Corwin Pavilion), by phone at 893-2064, and online at http://www.music.ucsb.edu/news/purchase-tickets.
— Gerald Carpenter covers the arts as a Noozhawk contributing writer. He can be reached at gerald.carpenter@gmail.com. The opinions expressed are his own.