Axe ’Em, Jacks!
NACOGDOCHES, Texas – Works by Ivan Trevino, David Skidmore and Francisco Perez are among the program selections to be showcased when the Percussion Ensemble at Stephen F. Austin State University presents its final spring concert of 2022 at 7:30 p.m. Monday, April 4, in Cole Concert Hall on the SFA campus.
Directed by Dr. Brad Meyer, associate professor of percussion in the SFA School of Music, the ensemble will also perform works by Dave Hall, Chad Floyd, Mark Ford, Michael Laurello and SFA’s Dr. Jamie Vilseck, percussion adjunct faculty member.
Vilseck’s “Starfall” is a mallet quintet with optional piano that was composed for the LaSalle High School Percussion Ensemble in 2021. The title, according to Vilseck, “reflects a sense of wonder one has while staring up into the sky and appreciating the beauty of the stars.”
“Utilizing a complex but alluring harmony, this mallet quintet shows how the combination of many simple patterns can combine to create a wondrous texture, similar to how each individual star helps to create the night sky,” Vilseck said.
Other works on the program include Hall’s “Tilted Sphere,” Trevino’s “Shared Space,” Floyd’s Triptych Boom,” featuring senior music education major Noah Stephens, and Laurello’s “Spine,” featuring senior music education major Davis Carr.
Also on the program, Skidmore’s “Torched and Wrecked” is part of a series of pieces titled “Aliens With Extraordinary Abilities,” a 35-minute, seven-movement electro-acoustic piece.
“Time Dilation” by Perez was inspired by the astronomical theory that time is not an absolute unit of measure in the universe; rather time dilation indicates that the faster an object in the universe travels, the more the “experience” of time is affected (slower) compared to another object in a different environment.
“‘Time Dilation’ is the result of my light exploration of this effect,” Perez wrote. “Initiating with a five-count riff, the work’s main motif permeates through a variety of harmonic and polyrhythmic structures to create an energetic atmosphere, dilating back and forth between metric feels.”
Tickets are $8 for adults, $6 for seniors and $3 for students and youth. To purchase tickets, call the SFA Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407 or visit finearts.sfasu.edu. For additional information, contact the SFA School of Music at (936) 468-4602.