Looking for something different? UCSB’s stellar Percussion Ensemble, under the inspired direction of Dr. Jon Nathan, offers Old and New, an intriguing concert of transcriptions and original compositions for mallet ensemble at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 14, in Karl Geiringer Hall in the UCSB Music Building.
The percussion ensemble malleteers include director Jon Nathan, Dominick DiCesare, Megan Cavanaugh, Brian Morones, Cole Williams, Christina Tao, Zac Erstad, Dominique Cuello and Joey Goodman.
The first half of the program is devoted to transcriptions for mallet ensemble, the “Golliwog’s Cakewalk” from Claude Debussy‘s piano suite “Children’s Corner (1906-08);” the “Polka” from Dmitri Shostakovich’s ballet “The Golden Age (1931); a suite from George Bizet’s opera “Carmen (1878),” arranged by Clair Omar Musser, father of the modern marimba; the first movement of Johann Sebastian Bach‘s “Concerto in d-minor for Two Violins and Orchestra, BWV1043 (1717-23);” and several of Chick Corea’s “Children Songs (1984),” a collection of piano pieces.
The second half includes recent works composed directly for mallet ensemble, among them Phillip Richardson’s “Transmigration (2010),” David Skidmore’s “Torched and Wrecked (2015),” Nigel Westlake’s “Omphalo Centric Lecture (1984),” an excerpt from Paul Smadbeck’s popular “Rhythm Song (1984),” and Owen Clayton Condon’s “Fractalia (2011).”
Many of the original compositions, with their patterns and repetitions, reflect the influence of the minimalism of Terry Riley and Steve Reich.
Tickets to the UCSB Percussion Ensemble concert are $10 general admission, $5 for non-UCSB students with ID, free to UCSB students with ID and children under 12.
Tickets can be purchased at the door, at the Associated Students Ticket Office window (UCEN Room 1535, across from Corwin Pavilion), by phone at 893-2064, or online at www.music.ucsb.edu/news/purchase-tickets.
Directions and parking information at www.music.ucsb.edu/about/maps.
— 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.