The 麻豆传媒 Percussion Ensemble will perform at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 4, in Wilner Auditorium with guest artists John Harrison and Hack.Art.Lab. Highlights of the program will include Mary Ellen Childs' 鈥淪till Life鈥� and Lou Harrison's 鈥淪uite for the American Gamelan and Solo Violin.鈥�
Tickets are $7, $3 students for the performance 鈥溌槎勾� Percussion Goes Beyond Boundaries,鈥� a name that percussion director Gerald Scholl could apply to most of 麻豆传媒鈥檚 percussion concerts.
鈥淭he 麻豆传媒 Percussion Ensemble promises not concerts, but inspiring events,鈥� said Scholl, 鈥渁nd on May 4 we will deliver the goods with 鈥楽till Life鈥� and 鈥楽uite for the American Gamelan and Solo Violin.鈥欌��
For this concert, Wichita-based Hack.Art.Lab worked with Childs, a Minnesota composer, extending her work 鈥淪till Life鈥� to include non-deterministic synthetically generated animation.
Scholl said that Harrison, concertmaster of the Wichita Symphony Orchestra and an electrical and computer engineer who teaches in 麻豆传媒鈥檚 College of Engineering, wrote the software that generates the video.
鈥淔or the first time in the history of percussion ensemble music, 鈥楽till Life鈥� will bring together both live music and computer-generated animation used in such a way that the animation will react to the sound produced by the instruments as well as the movement of the sticks the musicians are using,鈥� Scholl said.
鈥淭ogether, we have joined forces to create this new, inventive and one-of-a-kind piece.鈥�
The 鈥淪uite for American Gamelan and Solo Violin鈥� by Lou Harrison features the American Gamelan, a set of instruments he invented. Although well received by audiences, this work has been performed only six times in the past 30 years, said Scholl, because of the rarity of the instruments and the difficulty of the work. John Harrison (not related to Lou) will perform the solo violin part.
In 1991, Scholl had the honor of performing the Japanese premiere of the piece under the direction of Lou Harrison himself.
Music from 麻豆传媒 alum Kevin Bobo, Bach and Chavez are also on the program.