The room was quiet, with up to 30 people attending. At the front of the forum, different types of xylophones were lined up with drum kits and a gong behind them. An ensemble dressed all in black, got in position behind each instrument and started to play. The beat sounded furious and tribal, the kind of sound one would expect to hear when watching someone getting chased in the jungle by wild animals in a movie.
PCC Percussion ensemble performs Chris Brooks’ The Evening News, directed by Tad Carpenter at the Vosloh Forum on Nov 16.
This is the sound that filled the Vosloh Forum as the PCC Percussion Ensemble performed on Nov. 16.
The ensemble played a wide variety of world music. The beginning of the program featured selections from tribal and Latin styles of music that were upbeat and energetic. According to the ensemble’s Director Tad Carpenter, the group wanted to perform a variety of music from all over the world.
“At the beginning of the semester the students wanted to do music from around the world in different styles, rhythms, and different cultures of music,” said Carpenter. “We wanted to do something different from last semester where we did a lot of modern 20th century music.”Â
Carpenter himself changed roles from conductor to musician during a performance of “A La Samba” a Latin song, due to one of the ensemble member’s absence for the performance. Carpenter commented that the group was able to perform well without the lead of a conductor. “I knew that [the ensemble] rehearsed enough to be able to follow without me conducting,” he said.
As the performance progressed, the music changed from festive to dramatic, as the performance required the use of the larger drums and the golden gong sitting in the back.
The last part of the show included a solo performance Jose Alva, 19, performing “Un-coursed Rhythm” on a xylophone with two mallets in each hand and a set of shakers strapped on his ankle.
“I was kind of nervous,” Alva commented on his solo. “I already had to perform it earlier today, so it went pretty well. There were a few mistakes here and there but besides that I think I did well.”Â
The final act of the show included a duo piece called “The History of Man.” Pablo De Lazaro, 21, and Daniel La France, 22, started the performance playing at different rhythms that synchronized towards the end.
“It’s really hard,” De Lazaro explained of his performance. “This piece is more of a contemporary piece, so it has him [La France] playing something different and myself playing something completely different, so it makes it difficult to figure out where the down beat is. It took us awhile and we’ve been practicing for months now and it is still a work in progress.”Â
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