BA DA BOOM IN CONCERT
Friday 28 April – Ian Hanger Recital Hall
Changing tensions Franziska Boas
Changing Tensions was composed, or at least committed to paper in a fixed form in 1939 by Franziska Maire Boas (b.1902-1988). The work is scored for four percussionists in two movements (I. Moderately Fast, II. Slow). Both movements have relatively simple tripartite forms comprised primarily of layered ostinato.
Boas was an American dancer, educator, improviser, composer, and interpreter of percussion music. She is credited as a pioneer of dance therapy and with founding the first interracial school of dance. On July 27, 1939, the John Cage Percussion Players presented a concert at Mills College entitled, Modern American Percussion Music, which included Boas’ Changing Tensions, alongside works by Johanna Beyer, John Cage, Lou Harrison, and William Russel.
nothing moves in a straight line Paul Novak
nothing moves in a straight line is an exploration of continuity and discontinuity. The work unfolds in a series in a series of tightly constructed variations, juxtaposing jagged grooves with dream-like, resonant interludes. The percussionists, arranged facing one another in a cluster around the vibraphone, leap suddenly and dramatically between wildly different meters and tempos throughout the piece, and yet there is a continuous pulse which subtly unifies these disparate musics.
Design Groups 1 Netty Simons
Netty Simons (née Rothenberg) was an American composer, pianist, and teacher. She was born in New York City on October 26, 1913, and received her early musical training from the Third Street Music School, where she taught from 1928-1933. She studied at New York University from 1931 to 1937, where her teachers included Marion Bauer and Percy Grainger. From 1938 to 1941, she was a private student of Stefan Wolpe, and the two remained close friends until he died in 1972. She received an award from the Ford Foundation in 1971.
Design Groups I, composed in 1967, is a percussion work for 1 -3 players.
Premiered by American percussionist Jan Williams, the composition is devised of graphical, symbol, and text instructions, guiding, yet not exclusively designating the performer's path through the composition. Through this complex yet organic
notation system, Simons enables the performers to have flexibility and agency in the instrumentation and creative output.
Iron tongues Miriama Young
Commissioned for Strike Percussion ensemble with support from Creative New Zealand, Iron Tongues, is based on the distinct voices of wood, metal, and skin, and each are activated by three percussionists in a way that explores the intricate and diverse timbral elements of each instrument, as well as moments of cohesive densities by the composite combined ensemble. The piece features on the CD Strike: New Zealand Percussion Music, which was awarded Best Classical Music Album, New Zealand Music Awards (RIANZ 2001).
Lunescer Luiz Gonçalves
The Portuguese word for moonlight, Lunescer is a vibraphone duet composed by Brazilian composer Luiz Gonçalves. This work explores long-flowing melodies and slowly unfolding polyrhythms that evoke sentiments of melancholy and nostalgia. Additionally, the tension of chromaticism throughout encourages an intimate chamber music experience for the performers and listeners.
White Pines Michael Burritt
This piece was inspired by the energy, crispness, and majesty of these snowcovered trees in the winter months near Burritt's home in New York. White Pines is originally the second movement to a larger three movement work titled Home Trilogy and is dedicated to and commissioned by the internationally renowned percussion group Nexus. This sextet version of White Pines was orchestrated for the Inaugural All Star International Collegiate Percussion Ensemble performance at PASIC 2015.
Ba Da Boom Artists:
Matthew Conway
Connor Dinneen
Caitlyn Hermann
Jaymee Homeming
Brayden Jealous
Jessica Postle
Ally Quinn
Quinn Ramsey
Mikaela Thomsen
Dara Williams