The Collegian

Issue date: 4/10/08 Section: Arts

Hillsdale College's Percussion Ensemble is performing an eclectic blend of percussion pieces, Friday, one of which under black lights.

Director of Percussion Ensemble Eric Jones said the concert should be especially exciting because every piece offers the opportunity for a different timbre.

"When I say different timbres I mean that a violin pretty much always sounds like a violin, or a piano pretty much always sounds like a piano," Jones said. "But in the world of percussion we have thousands of different instruments, and millions of different sounds that are possible."

The pieces in the concert have influences ranging from keyboard percussion music of Uganda to Japanese Taiko drumming.



One of the Taiko piece features senior Ethan Lewis, junior Robert Ogden and junior Jameson Cunningham performing the work with orange sticks under black lights creating a glowing illusion.

"The way the parts fit together, and the players interact and play off of each other is what makes the piece work," Lewis said. "It's the loudest piece in the show and to top it all off we'll be playing under black lights with fluorescent orange sticks, so it will be pretty dramatic and flashy."

The idea for black light performance first came to Jones as a graduate student in Pennsylvania.

He said the effect of the glowing sticks is quite visually stimulating and adds a lot to the performance.

"You don't often get that at a piano recital, string quartet, or other more traditional chamber ensemble performances," Jones said. "And chances are anyone who attends a percussion ensemble concert will be exposed to an instrument they have not seen or heard before."

Lewis said the diversity of the concert adds much to the performance, and will be something that a variety of people will be able to enjoy.

"There are a lot of dramatic moments, a couple of pretty ones, and quite a few simply bizarre ones," Lewis said. "We've been working on this music a long time now, and it's very exciting to see it come together."

The concert is Friday, April 11 at 8 p.m. in McNamara Rehearsal Hall.

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