Illinois State University’s Percussion Ensemble will present its fall concert at 7 p.m. Sunday, November 8, in the University’s Kemp Recital Hall. The performance is free and open to the public.
The concert will feature guest artist John Kilkenny in Mudra by Bob Becker. The piece was originally composed to accompany dance and features Kilkenny on solo snare drum in a sonic landscape influenced by traditional North Indian music.
The intimacy and communication of chamber music will be explored as the ensemble performs in trios and quartets. An interweaving of rhythmic melodic lines is found in Omphalo Centric Lecture by Australian composer Nigel Westlake. Fractalia, a quartet by Owen Clayton Condon, combines the repetitive soundscape of John Adams with the drumming style of Kodo. The concert also will feature Kotrab by Richard Kvistad, Sharps by Brian Nozny, and Fate for 3 by Italian composer Claudio Santangelo.
John Kilkenny enjoys a multi-faceted career that includes work as a performer, conductor, educator, and arts administrator. He is director of percussion studies and conductor of the Symphonic Winds at George Mason University. He also coordinates and oversees recruitment efforts and initiatives for the school of music and is the artistic director of the Mason Percussion Group.
The Percussion Ensemble is directed by David Collier and Ben Stiers, faculty members in Illinois State University’s School of Music. For further information on the concert, contact David Collier by e-mail at dcollier@ilstu.edu. If you will need a special accommodation, please contact the music office at music@ilstu.edu or call 438-7631.
