Source: Kurt Gartner, 785-532-3808, kgartner@k-state.edu
Photo available. Contact media@k-state.edu or 785-532-6415
Note to editors: Chris Exum is a graduate of Highland Park High School and Dean Linton is a graduate of Topeka High School, both in Topeka.
Monday, Nov. 26 2007
K-STATE PERCUSSION ENSEMBLE'S FALL CONCERT A WORLD TOUR OF MUSIC
MANHATTAN -- Kansas State University students will present their semiannual Percussion Ensemble concert at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 28, in McCain Auditorium. The concert is free and open to the public.
Using standard instruments of the orchestral percussion section and "found instruments" to create unusual and colorful effects, the ensemble will feature works composed or influenced by musicians of Asia, Australia, Europe, South America and North America.
Scott R. Harding's composition "Taiko" is a brief tribute to the ceremonial and festival drumming of Japan. Denis DiBlasio's "Outback" conjures images of remote Australian landscapes. In his work "Answers," Argentinean composer Marcelo Ferreyra tries to respond to Charles Ives' famous "Unanswered Question." The concert also includes a transcription of the "Arabian Dance" from Tchaikovsky's "Nutcracker Suite." The evening will conclude with a performance of "Sextet for Percussion" by Zita Carno. Carno was a contemporary of jazz legend John Coltrane, a long-serving pianist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and an authoritative researcher of professional baseball.
Percussion ensemble conductors include David Whitman, a graduate teaching assistant in percussion, Eau Claire, Wis.; Tracy Thomas, visiting instructor of percussion; and Kurt Gartner, K-State associate professor of percussion.
Percussion Ensemble members include: Michael Sturd, freshman in music, Arkansas City; Blake Vignery, junior in music education, Concordia; Kelsie Yarbrough, sophomore in music education, Gardner; Jaimie Shores, sophomore in music education, Haven; Brad Regier, senior in music education, Haysville; Elliot Arpin, freshman in music, Hutchinson; Rachael Lawrence, freshman in music, and Adam Watson, sophomore in open option, both of Junction City; Kelli Francis, senior in music, Liberal; Dean Linton, senior in applied music-instrumental performance, and Jonathan Welch, freshman in music, both of Manhattan; Elizabeth Voigt, senior in mechanical engineering, McPherson; Brian Anderson, senior in mathematics, Salina; and Ben Burkland, senior in music education, Wamego.
From out of state: Chris Exum, senior in applied music, Cambridge, Md.; Josh Heath, freshman in architectural engineering, Kansas City, Mo.; and Jeff Stilley, senior in secondary education, Lee's Summit, Mo.