Creation UNLV Percussion Ensemble and Moving Light Lab

College of Fine Arts presents
Creation
A collaboration of the
UNLV Percussion Ensemble and Moving Light Lab
The UNLV Percussion Ensemble is directed by Dean Gronemeier and Timothy Jones
The UNLV Moving Light Laboratory is directed by Brackley Frayer
The UNLV Steel Band is directed by Luc Brust
Special Guests:
The Adams State University Marimba Quartet directed by James Doyle
PROGRAM
Dave Hollinden
(b. 1958)
Reckless
Paul De La Torre, Max Feld, Samuel Friend, Dennis Garza, Michael Hoffman,
John Melton, Alex Tomlinson and Eddie Yervinyan, percussion
Josh Lentner, lighting design
Jason Thorpe Buchanan
(b. 1986)
…durat(A)ions: “broken landscape”
Paul De La Torre, Samuel Friend, John Melton and Eddie Yervinyan, percussion
Josh Lentner, lighting design
Dmitri Shostakovich
(1906–1975)
String Quartet No. 8 in C Minor, Op. 110
Adapted by the Adams State University Marimba Quartet
Allegro molto
Allegretto
Largo
Cody Fricke, Dryden Hill, Logan Hjelmstad, Benjamin Paden, marimba
Josh Lentner, lighting design
Christopher Deane
World Premiere!
(b. 1957)
Marimba Quartet No. 2: Sensing the Coriolis
Luc Brust, Ryan Harrison, Luigi Ng and Caleb Pickering, marimba
Josh Lentner, lighting design
Lighting Design Feature – Shake It Out, Florence + the Machine
Lighting Choreography by Josh Lentner
Andy Narell
(b. 1954)
Izo’s Mood
Luc Brust, Paul De La Torre, Max Feld, Dennis Garza, Chad Henley, Ryan Harrison, Michael Hoffman,
Luigi Ng, Caleb Pickering, Ricardo Reese, Alex Tomlinson, steel pans
Josh Lentner, lighting design
Ray Obiedo, arr. by Paul Rennick
Brasiliero
Luc Brust, Paul De La Torre, James Doyle, Samuel Friend, Dennis Garza, Ryan Harrison, Michael
Hoffman, John Melton, Luigi Ng, Caleb Pickering, Alex Tomlinson and Eddie Yervinyan, percussion
Josh Lentner, lighting design
INTERMISSION
Lighting Design Feature – Fight Song, Rachel Platten (b. 1981)
Lighting Choreography by Elizabeth Kline
Dean Gronemeier
(b. 1963)
Creation
Day 1: In the Beginning… Light
Day 2: Storm
Day 3: Land and Seas
Day 4: Stars, Moons, and Sun
Day 5: Fish and Birds
Day 6: Insects, Reptiles, Animals, Man and Woman
Day 7: Rest
Dean Gronemeier, marimba
Timothy Jones, narrator and timpani
Kyle Bissantz, Luc Brust, Ryan Harrison, Luigi Ng,
Caleb Pickering and Alex Tomlinson, percussion
Josh Lentner, lighting design
Friday, April 17, 2015
Saturday, April 18, 2015
7:30 p.m.
Black Box Theatre
Alta Ham Fine Arts
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
PROGRAM NOTES
Reckless – Dave Hollinden (b. 1958)
When I considered naming this piece Reckless, defined as a disregard for consequences or unthinking boldness, it
seemed appropriate for two reasons. First, the score states that the performance should always be pushing forward,
that the piece will suffer if the tempo is too slow, and that "While accuracy is necessary, there should be no feeling
that the piece is being performed carefully." So I hoped the name Reckless would give even more encouragement to
the performers to push themselves and bring an edge to the performance.
Second, when I started planning the music I had two very different ideas in mind, and was having trouble deciding
which one to use. I was attracted to something I'd read about a remix artist that claims he mixes different pieces of
music together without listening to them. So I decided to take my two ideas and mix them together, inserting other
ideas more or less at random, sometimes fitting them into the score visually as opposed to working them in
compositionally, or in effect, without really "listening" to them. So in addition to my desire that there be a bit of
recklessness in the performance of the piece, there was a bit of recklessness in the composition of the music as well.
– Dave Hollinden
…durat(A)ions: “broken landscape” – Jason Thorpe Buchanan (b. 1986)
…durat(A)ions: “broken landscape” – Written for IKTUS PERCUSSION, is in a way (both) a commentary on (and
exercise in) the futility of unwavering adherence to rigid systems of organization and the culture embracing
intellectual self gratification that has become rampant in our relatively obscure (and seemingly insignificant) "new
music" social system. This work functions as self-reflection, criticism, and exploration of the creative issues that I
have encountered while producing works of this nature, and the artistic issues that arise from varying degrees of
complexity on both the part of the composer and performer. Just beyond the realm of possibility (or practicality), the
score's notation offers one potential realization of randomly generated time points, blocking out the length of event
streams that regulate contrast and form in the work.
The score is utilized as a point of departure providing alignment points between twelve individual streams (three for
each percussionist: sustained sounds, articulated sounds, and vocalizations) and guidelines based on contrast
/similarity. The result is a completely fluid and elastic sense of time, with individual event streams functioning as
simultaneities rather than synchronizations. – Jason Thorpe Buchanan
String Quartet No. 8 in C Minor (Op. 110) – Dmitri Shostakovich (1906–1975)
Adapted by the Adams State University Marimba Quartet
Allegro molto
Allegretto
Largo
The Eighth Quartet was dedicated “In Memory of the Victims of Fascism and War,” and was written in three days in
1960 when the composer was on an official visit to Dresden and other parts of East Germany. But clearly the work is
as deeply personal, even autobiographical, as any of the other quartets, beginning with its opening 4-note theme. In
a good number of his works, notably the Tenth Symphony, Shostakovich used the notes D-Eb-C-B to represent his
initials (D.Sch., in German notation), or some variation thereof, and here most of the quartet (five movements without
pause) is permeated by the motif.
The abrupt Allegro molto features the Jewish theme of the Second Piano Trio—here extremely intense and agitated,
partly thanks to the more unified sound of four strings instead of the more varied colors of the piano with two strings.
The next section opens with a mocking waltz that leads to the main theme from the First Cello Concerto, while the
slow fourth movement features a violently articulated three-note pattern that gives way to quotations of two somber
songs (one by the composer, the other a Soviet hymn) alluding to prison. – Joe Milicia
Tonight’s performance features movements two, three, and four of the five movement quartet.
Marimba Quartet No. 2: Sensing the Coriolis – Christopher Deane (b. 1957)
World Premiere!
This work is the result of a consortium commission to produce new and challenging music for percussion ensemble
with an emphasis on marimba. The final version of Marimba Quartet No. 2: Sensing the Coriolis was competed in
early 2015.
The Coriolis effect, or force, named after the French engineer Gustave Gaspard Coriolis (1792–π1843), is an effect
whereby a mass moving in a rotating system experiences a force acting perpendicular to the direction of motion and
to the axis of rotation. On the earth, the effect tends to deflect moving objects to the right in the northern hemisphere
and to the left in the southern. It is important in the formation of cyclonic weather systems where storms rotate
counterclockwise in the northern hemisphere and clockwise in the southern hemisphere. While it is not possible to
feel the force of the Coriolis effect over short distances, pilots planning routes for long direct flights, accuracy with
ballistic missiles, and satellite trajectory are examples of taking into account the Coriolis effect to accurately target a
destination, or path. – The American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy
Shake It Out, Florence and the Machine
Lighting Choreography by Josh Lentner
The moving light lab provides an opportunity for M.F.A. Lighting candidates to explore and showcase their creative
and technical ability in live performance with the most current lighting technology.
Izo’s Mood, Andy Narell (b. 1954)
Composed in 2006 for his album Tatoom: Music for Steel Orchestra, “Izo’s Mood” is a Panorama-style “Funky
Calypso.” Typical of Narell’s compositional style, “Izo’s Mood” (written for the composer’s son, Isaac) weaves lyrical
melodies over a canvas of dense jazz harmonies. Although the unison sections and overall length would likely
classify this work as a “Panorama-style” piece for steel band, Narell reflects on his jazz roots by including an
improvisation section between the first and second segments of the work. For many of the members of the UNLV
Steel Band (Rebel Pans?), this piece has been an introduction to competition-style works for the steel pan
orchestra. – Luc Brust
Brasiliero – Ray Obiedo, arr. by Paul Rennick
Arranged for eight percussionists playing bells, two vibes, steel pan, three marimbas and timpani, plus a rhythm
section of drumset (which is fully notated throughout), percussion and bass guitar, Brasileiro is a hard-driving Latin
chart that gives the rhythm section a chance to take the spotlight. Percussionists get the opportunity to perform on an
assortment of instruments including agogo bells, cuica, samba whistle, surdo, ganza and pandeiro. Mallet players
must execute tightly synchronized syncopated patterns and utilize four-mallet skills. The arrangement, ideal for a
college-level ensemble, captures the unique ambiance of the music that inspired the piece.
Fight Song, Rachel Platten (b. 1981)
Lighting Choreography by Elizabeth Kline
The moving light lab provides an opportunity for M.F.A. Lighting candidates to explore and showcase their creative
and technical ability in live performance with the most current lighting technology.
Creation – Dean Gronemeier (b. 1963)
Creation is a twenty-seven minute composition scored for solo marimba, narrator, and percussion ensemble. There
are seven segued movements, one for each day of the creation of the world:
Day 1: In the Beginning… Light
Day 2: Storm
Day 3: Land and Seas
Day 4: Stars, Moons, and Sun
Day 5: Fish and Birds
Day 6: Insects, Reptiles, Animals, Man and Woman
Day 7: Rest
The UNLV Department of Theatre would like to thank the following companies for providing equipment and support:
4 Wall
PRG
Vari-lite
ETC
Phillips
Morpheus