MPAC to host UM Percussion Ensemble for its November concert
SUPERIOR - The University of Montana Percussion Ensemble is a group of 22 percussionists most of whom are music majors.
The group has been in existence since 1990 when Dr. Ledbetter was hired on at UM and has developed and expanded to include a variety of world music ensembles including the Islanders Steel Band, Brazilian Ensemble, West African Ensemble, Salsa Band, Mexican Marimba Band and Balinese Gamelan ensemble.
Dr. Ledbetter took a group of students to study gamelan music in Bali, Indonesia this past summer. These world ensembles can be heard each year on our World Rhythms Concert which takes place the last Friday or Saturday in February each year.
Now, what is a Percussion Ensemble?
Is it a bunch of drummers let loose upon the world?
Not quite.
Many are surprised to learn the amazing colors and beauty of percussion instruments and composers of the 20th and 21st centuries are now utilizing more percussion sounds than ever before.
There are literally thousands of percussion instruments around the world and this concert will feature many of them.
You’ll hear a "percussion orchestra" in Thomas Gauger’s Portico which treats the percussion ensemble as an orchestra. Instead of strings and woodwinds though – you’ll hear marimbas, vibraphones, glockenspiel and xylophone in their place along with the traditional orchestral battery.
Next up will be a drum ensemble with a modern twist entitled Strange Loops by Patrick Long.
The piece is a tour de force for the four players and conductor as they go through a complex mix of accents and metric shifts to a dramatic conclusion.
A Ceiling Full of Stars shows the beauty of mallet percussion instruments like the five octave marimba, vibraphone and crotales. The piece is written for four marimbas, two vibraphones, glockenspiel, chimes and crotales and takes the listener on a mesmerizing trip through.
As the composer Blake Tyson says – "A Ceiling Full of Stars is a journey through space as seen through the eyes of a child. There is a sense of wonder and amazement. There are struggles to break free of unseen forces and there are moments of weightlessness. A sense of speed simmers beneath a slowly moving surface, depicting the awe-inspiring infinity of space."
The first half will conclude with a great crowd pleaser entitled Heads Up by Mark Ford.
The creative theatrical piece is written for "drums without shells" – in other words, the players make use of drum heads without the drums in a fascinating and very entertaining way with some humor thrown in for good measure!
The second half will feature another very unique set of percussion instruments – steel drums or steel pans which originated in Trinidad and Tobago of the Caribbean in the 1930s.
The UM Islanders Steel Band has been together since 1992 and has recorded two CDS (both of which will be for sale after the concert!).
The steel band will perform a mix of Caribbean soca tunes, a Brazilian samba and hot latin Salsa tune.
We hope you enjoy the concert at 7:00 pm on Tuesday November 20 at the Superior Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints!