Axe ’Em, Jacks!
NACOGDOCHES, Texas – The Stephen F. Austin State University School of Music will present faculty member Dr. Ben Tomlinson performing a percussion recital at 7:30 p.m. Monday, March 16, in Cole Concert Hall on the SFA campus.
The program features a selection of music that spans many different percussion instruments and includes works by Casey Cangelosi, Pat Jacobs, Brian Nozny, J.S. Bach, Paul Lansky and Minoru Miki.
Nozny’s “Thief” is written for marimba plus tuned metal pipes. The performer lays the pipes on the instruments and melds natural sounds (rosewood bars from marimba) with the artificial (tuned metal pipes), according to Tomlinson.
“The combination is a beautiful and unique timbre not found in many other pieces of music,’ he said.
“A Cool Gadget for Tambourine” by Cangelosi is for tambourine and pre-recorded audio playback. “Tambourine is not a percussion instrument we typically hear in a solo setting,” Tomlinson said. “The piece challenges the performer with a lot of imaginative extended techniques that really showcase the tambourine as a virtuosic instrument.”
The second movement of “Marimba Spiritual” by Miki will close out the program and will feature SFA percussion students Mariah Taller of South Bend, Indiana, Davis Carr of Sugarland and Aaron Milam of Longview. Tomlinson describes “Marimba Spiritual” as a fast-paced, high-adrenaline piece of music that takes inspiration from Japanese taiko drumming.
“It is one of the oldest pieces written for marimba soloist and percussion ensemble and is sure to be a crowd favorite,” he said.
Concert 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.