Axe ’Em, Jacks!
NACOGDOCHES, Texas – Guest artist Norman Weinberg will present a recital of contemporary music written for percussion and electronics at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 5, in Cole Concert Hall on the Stephen F. Austin State University campus.
The performance will include works for percussion with fixed media, percussion with live electronics, and works written exclusively for electronic percussion.
Weinberg will be joined by members of the SFA Percussion Studio in a performance of “Dreams” by David Molk. The work features three live performers with a fixed media track.
“With one player on vibraphone and two ‘stand-up drumset’ performers, the music combines traditional with contemporary musical elements that result in a piece that’s fun and animated for the performers and audience alike,” Weinberg said.
Two of Weinberg’s original works will be featured in the recital. Both were written purely for electronic percussion using instruments called DrumKATs. “Beijing” was composed after hearing a street musician begging under a bridge during a trip to China, while “Hadrian’s Wall” is an experimental composition exploring musical density and rhythmic ambiguity, according to the artist.
Another work on the program, “Apocalyptic Passacaglia on a Theme by John Cage,” was created by composer and conductor Martin Georgiev. This work combines a solo snare drum performance – using various striking positions and special effects – along with a video created by Georgiev that plays the role of a duo partner with rhythmic flashes of “conflict and upheaval in our modern world,” according to the composer.
Other works to be performed are by Brett William Dietz and Andrea Mazzariello.
Currently a professor emeritus at the University of Arizona, Weinberg served as the director of percussion studies for 20 years. He also served as the director of percussions studies at Del Mar College in Corpus Christi from 1979 to 1997. Weinberg has been involved in electronic percussion since 1985 and has nearly 300 published articles on percussion performance and education.
Recital tickets are $8 for adults, $6 for seniors and $3 for students and youth. For tickets or more information, call the SFA Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407 or visit www.finearts.sfasu.edu.