I recently went to the Percussion Ensemble concert on April 26 and it was quite good. Under the direction of Douglas Perkins, the percussion ensemble played pieces they composed. The students used many different instruments such as bells, snare drums, a drum set, symbols, a bass drum, bongos, gongs, and a violin bow.
“For instruments we use traditional percussion, like drums and xylophones, and random objects like cans and anything that has a cool sound really,” said Elizabeth Clark, a freshman member of the ensemble.
The percussion ensemble is made up of 10 members. “Most students get credit to be in the ensemble, though some participate without getting credit,” explained Lou Bunk, a music professor.
It “is an improvisational group," said Clark. "We usually start off each rehearsal with an improv session to warm-up. The students composed all of the pieces except for Lou Bunk's piece, ‘Etude: Being and Becoming.’ The pieces are all improvised for the most part as well, each person just gave a little direction for the general sound and feel and the ensemble took it from there. The directions [given by the composer] ranged from step by step instructions to pictures. I thought the concert went really well; I think that all of us were on top of our game, and we did all of the pieces justice. We were really pleased to have such a great turn out,” said Clark.
I was pleasantly surprised at how good they were. I see now that there is true musical talent at Franklin Pierce. The pieces played and composed were original and full of surprises. One of the pieces that I can recall is “African Storm” by Mat Overdeput. It really felt like a storm started, happened, and ended. It had a clear African vibe to it, hence the title. Another piece that stood out to me was Brian St Pierre’s arrangement of “Vermont/New Hampshire Counterpoint” by Steve Reich. It was just St Pierre playing but it took over the whole room.
“The ensembles are all directed by music faculty and mostly consist of students. In some cases there are members in the local community who participate,” said Bunk. “Concerts are all free and are the culmination of a semesters worth of rehearsals and practice. This year, Defenestration, our contemporary music ensemble, is playing a world premier of a composition commissioned especially for this ensemble.”
Brian St Pierre shared little tid-bits about each ensemble or concert left to play. Defenestration, which took place May 2 to May 3 is “contemporary music,” said St Pierre. It is “one of the most exciting ensembles. [It is] run by Paul Scharfenberger. We perform music from the 20th century. Sometimes do world premiers for composers. This year we are performing a world premier for composer Nathan Davis, who is also a former percussion teacher for FPU. The piece is entitled ‘An Outside with an Inside in It.’” The Choral Union and the University Singers, “are two choirs on campus, and they are run by David Brandes.” This took place this past Tuesday, May 4, as well as the Jazz Ensemble. “It is run by professor Richard Page. We perform a multitude of jazz Latin and funk tunes from the 20th century. Any student can be in this,” said St Pierre. The Brass Ensemble is run by Floyd Oster, and that took place on May 5.
Tonight, Thursday, May 6 at 4 p.m. the Guitar Ensemble will perform in Cheney Hall. The ensemble is open to “anyone that can play the music,” said St Pierre. The Electronic Music concert is May 6 also, at 5 p.m. This “consists of music made by anyone in computer music 1 or 2, or within the music technology track,” said St Pierre. Monadnock Flutes is “for anyone within Franklin Pierce or surrounding towns. It is mostly made up of women from the surrounding area. It is run by Denise Nolan who is also the flute teacher,” said St Pierre. This will also take place Thursday, May 6, at 8 p.m.
I am very picky about music and musical performances, but there is real musical talent here at Franklin Pierce, and unfortunately it is not always shown. These concerts are a chance to make the talent known at Franklin Pierce. So go out to see at least one, you won’t regret it. If you don’t like it, that’s your decision; at least you went and experienced something different.
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