NEC Percussion Ensemble + Epstein

The independent percussion ensemble is an early 20th century musical phenomenon that was stimulated by the exploratory compositions of Edgard Varèse, Henry Cowell, Lou Harrison, Harry Partch, and, especially, John Cage. Composers such as Toru Takemitsu, Steve Reich, Michael Colgrass and Charles Wuorinen latched on to the new sonic possibilities that the percussion ensemble suggested and wrote important pieces. There was also an explosion in the growth of percussion ensembles on both the college campus and in the professional music world.

Frank Epstein, a Boston Symphony Orchestra percussionist, Chair of Brass and Percussion at NEC, and Director of the NEC Percussion Ensemble, has long been an ardent champion of new music. With the NEC Percussion Ensemble, he has commissioned and given first performances of many new works, helping building a 21st century repertory for that instrumental grouping. Percussion Ensemble concerts, then, are a rich and varied mix of styles, colors, and textures.

Tonight's program features the Boston premiere of a new work by Osnat Netzer '11 D.M.A.

Members of the Ensemble: Peter Dodds, Andrew Grossman, Eliza Kinney, Sean Van Winkle. Come and be dazzled!

Gyorgy Sandor Ligeti: Síppal, dobbal, nádihegedűvel (With Pipes, Drums, Fiddles) (2000)
Thea Lobo, Mezzo-soprano
Peter Dodds
Eliza Kinney
Andrew Grossman
Sean Van Winkle

Osnat Netzer:Weeding the Mountain (Boston Premiere)
Zenas Kim, trombone
Peter Dodds, Sean Van Winkle, Andrew Grossman, percussion

Alvin Lucier: "Kettles" for five timpani and two slow-sweep pure wave oscillators

Barry Grossman:Taiko and Congo Fantasy
members of Hand Drumming Class

Composer Osnat Netzer offers this program note on her work:
"Weeding the Mountain was written as a commission for trombonist Zenas Kim ('09 BM). It is based solely on folk music from the Kangwon region of South Korea. As an outsider to the culture, I was delighted to listen to the folk music from this region, transcribe it to its most minute details, and use my findings in a new composition. The title comes from the fact that one of the sources of livelihood in this region comes from collecting herbs along the mountain. Due to the mountainous landscape, planting crops is not practical in this region, and its inhabitants must rely mostly on fishing and on “weeding the mountain”. As I was composing the piece, I tried to get into the mindset of those people who walk alone on the windy mountain, trying to collect enough food to support their families. The lonely trombonist in contrast with the three percussion players may be seen as representing man vs. nature. Each percussion player plays through cycles of rhythm, though to each player his own beat, his own tempo. The trombone can be heard trying to fight those cycles of nature, then to predict those cycles, and eventually - join them. But nature being nature, stays rather indifferent to man’s attempts."