Arts & Culture

UK Percussion Group Showcases University Composing Talents in Concert

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LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 10, 2016) — The University of Kentucky Percussion Group (UKPG), a smaller chamber group known for performing cutting-edge percussion literature written for smaller forces, will perform a free concert at 7:30 p.m. tonight (Thursday), March 10, at the Singletary Center for the Arts Recital Hall.

The upcoming UKPG concert will feature five extremely musical and physically demanding works for the performers. The program begins with Ivan Trevino's "Catching Shadows," originally written for a marimba duet. The opening will be followed by a premier performance of "The Kola Superdeep Borehole" by C. Snow (Connor Shafran), a UK music and German studies senior from Richmond, Kentucky. The concert will continue with "Volcán de Fuego" by UK doctoral student Francisco Perez, "Mallet Quartet" by Steve Reich and Ryan George's "Consider the Birds," which uses musical "murmurations" built around evolving figures. In addition to UKPG performing work by Perez, he will also serve as a featured conductor for the concert. Perez is a native of Pflugerville, Texas.

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.

Members of UKPG are drawn from the UK Percussion Ensemble, conducted by James Campbell. The ensemble is nationally recognized for its excellence and innovative programming.

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.

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.

UK is the University for Kentucky. At UK, we are educating more students, treating more patients with complex illnesses and conducting more research and service than at any time in our 150-year history. To read more about the UK story and how you can support continued investment in your university and the Commonwealth, go to: uky.edu/uk4ky. #uk4ky #seeblue

MEDIA CONTACT: Whitney Hale, 859-257-8716; whitney.hale@uky.edu