The power of percussion

SUPERIOR - The Superior Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints was filled with the sounds of a myriad of percussion instruments during the Mineral County Performing Arts Council’s Nov. 20 concert.

Through the use of various percussion instruments, the University of Montana’s Percussion Ensemble was able to perform a variety of pieces ranging from classical to bossa nova.

Prior to an orchestral piece Dr. Robert LedBetter, professor of music at UM and conductor of many of the night’s pieces stated that with the variety of percussion instruments available today "if Bach was alive he would be writing percussion compositions."

"Percussionists at the University of Montana are trained to become ‘total percussionists’ through private instruction and through outstanding performance opportunities," the MPAC program read. "The group performs a diverse program on each concert, integrating everything from ‘cutting edge’ contemporary percussion music, jazz-fusion, ethnic percussion to ragtime marimba music and ‘unusual’ crowd pleasers."

Diversity was certainly the theme of the nights concert, which started off showcasing the ability of percussion instruments to create a full orchestral effect and ended with a full steel band performing toe-tapping samba and soca tunes.

A highlight of the night was a piece that LedBetter compared to the "Blue Man Group" called "Heads Up."

The comedic piece featured five UM percussionists playing on large drum heads, which is the material stretched over the top of the percussion instrument.

Starting with just one percussionist playing on the metal frame of the head and slowly building to sliding on the large heads while playing smaller ones, the ended with one percussionist slamming a drumhead made of paper over a fellow band mate and laughter throughout the church.

MPAC’s next concert will take place on Dec. 13 and feature a holiday program by a Missoula based a capella vocal ensemble called "Dolce Canto."