Ba Da Boom Program 3 June 2021

Ba Da Boom 12:30 Pre-concert music | Foyer Inti Figgis-vizueta | To give you form and breath (2019) Inspired by the poetry of Joy Harjo, this piece centers the nature of creation stories in relation to indigenous identity. Much of native belief and collective knowledge stem from oral traditions and the lens they provide is core to our understanding of the world and the spirits that live with us. To give you form and breath seeks to channel portions of that understanding through the use of 'ground' objects and manipulations of rhythm as manipulations of time.

Cassie Wieland | weeds (2018) A weed ! simply something growing where it shouldn't.

This work was inspired by a person or object being taken out of its natural environment; this idea of misplacement is interesting to me because it is a feeling that some people crave, while for others it is extremely discomforting - and sometimes it can be both. In this trio for three percussionists, I am looking at the idea of misplacement from the angle of being comforted by your environment, and the role that familiarity plays in this comfort. Throughout the piece the three musicians move within their stations to build something out of nothing together, and as the material becomes more familiar, it grows.

Pauline Oliveros | The Single Stroke Roll Meditation (1973) For a soloist or an ensemble of snare drummers.

Imagine all of the possible sounds to be made on a snare drum using only a continuous single stroke roll.

Allow the roll to begin involuntarily as a result of the strength of your imagination.

The performance is over if your mind wanders.

If you are successful in this meditation, your physical movements will follow your imagination. You will be aware of the sounds you are performing only slightly (milliseconds) after they are performed, and your imagination will be stimulated by the feedback of your involuntary performance.

1:05pm | Ian Hanger Recital Hall Steve Reich | Drumming (1970-71) For one year, between the fall of 1970 and the fall of 1971, I worked on what turned out to be the longest piece I have ever composed. Drumming lasts from 55 to 75 minutes (depending on the number of repeats played) and is divided into four parts that are performed without pause. The first part is for four pairs of tuned bongo drums, standmounted and played with sticks; the second, for three marimbas played by nine players together with two women’s voices; the third, for three glockenspiels played by four players together with whistling and piccolo; and the fourth section is for all these instruments and voices combined.

In the context of my own music, Drumming is the final expansion and refinement of the phasing process, as well as the first use of four new techniques: (1) the process of gradually substituting beats for rests (or rests for beats); (2) the gradual changing of timbre while rhythm and pitch remain constant; (3) the simultaneous combination of instruments of different timbre; and (4) the use of the human voice to become part of the musical ensemble by imitating the exact sound of the instruments.

As mentioned earlier, in the context of my own music, Drumming is the final expansion and refinement of the phasing process, a process discovered with tape loops that does not appear elsewhere in non-Western or Western music. Drumming also has only one basic rhythmic pattern throughout. This pattern undergoes changes of phase position, pitch, and timbre, but all the performers play this pattern, or some part of it, throughout the entire piece.

- Steve Reich

Performers Mikaela Thomsen, Steven Bryer, Shani Raman, Neacail McMillan, Kaleah Scanlon, Cara Daily, Yvette Ofa Agapow, Willow Giles, Skylar Sansome, Jessica Postle, Aidan Carey, Matthew Conway, Quinn Ramsey, Aiden Ericksson Dara Williams, Amber Evans, Elinor Hillock, Dakotah Love.