LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 6, 2013) – The University of Kentucky Percussion Ensemble will downsize and perform as UKPG, the UK Percussion Group. This concert, which is free and open to the public, will be presented at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 7, at the Singletary Center For the Arts Recital Hall.
UKPG, a smaller chamber group and subset of UK Percussion Ensemble, performs cutting edge percussion literature written for smaller forces.
"The music UKPG plays demands unflinching intensity of concentration, vigorous athleticism and, at times, the quiet slow balance of martial arts," says James Campbell, director of UK Percussion Studies.
Chamber percussion performance is a specialized field, and requires a number of skills not normally required for the performance of symphonic or solo music. The percussionists of UKPG develop a close intimacy of shared musical experience, moving into a zone that is not often experienced when a conductor is leading them. They make on-the-spot musical decisions and perform spontaneous gestures, which turns the music into a conversation between the performers.
The members of UKPG are drawn from the UK Percussion Ensemble, nationally recognized for its excellence and innovative programming.
The upcoming UKPG concert will feature five works, each placing extraordinary demands on the performers — both musically and physically. The program begins with Ivan Trevino’s “Bloom," written for a quartet of marimbas. Also included on the program are “Postludes” by Elliot Cole, "The Frame Problem" by James Romig, “Sun” by Baljinder Sekhon, and Mei-Fang Lin’s “Flux” written for marimba and electronic soundscape. Doctoral candidate Jonathan Sharp, is featured in all the pieces on this concert as part of his doctoral chamber percussion recital.
For more information on the UK Percussion Group concert, contact James Campbell, director of Percussion Studies at UK School of Music, at (859) 257-8187.
The UKPG is one of several ensembles housed at the UK School of Music in the UK College of Fine Arts. The school has garnered national recognition for high-caliber education in opera, choral and instrumental music performance, as well as music education, composition, theory and music history.
