Percussion Ensemble: Percussion Music from the Recent Past - A Survey

Frank Epstein, former 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 works from the recent past, including two pieces commissioned, premiered, and recorded by the ensemble: Joan Tower’s “DNA" and Tom Gauger’s “White Water - on the Housatonic River”. Both works could not be more different. Joan’s piece utilizes only drums and no pitched instruments at all; it is a tightly-woven set of duets with explosive and improvised material, that ties the piece together. The piece has been performed many times by many groups within the country and has been toured by others throughout Europe and the US. Tom Gauger, a member of the BSO percussion section for many years, has composed any number of wonderful, friendly, and fun pieces that have kept ensembles like this one busy and happy for many years. We are happy to bring this piece back to our program.

The concert features two solo pieces and two duets; these pieces are, again, of widely different aesthetics. The concert winds up with a performance of Chris Rouse’s aggressive and demonic percussion piece: Ogoun Badagris. This piece is based on a number of Haitian Voodoo Ritualistic Dances, making this perhaps the most orgasmic of pieces ever written. We dedicate the performance of Agoun Badagris to the memory of Chris Rouse, friend and colleague, who recently passed away (September 21). 

Members of the Ensemble: Doyeon Kim, Jackson Rowles, David Uhlman, Shan Wang, Tennison Watts, Leigh Wilson