The Adams State University Percussion Ensemble presents, “Affinity,” featuring San Luis Valley native and special guest Sarah Off on violin, at 7 p.m. Monday, Nov. 12, in Richardson Hall Auditorium.
The Percussion Ensemble will perform the monumental “Concerto for Violin with Percussion Orchestra” by the late American composer, Lou Harrison. Off, who holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree, will be featured.
The artistic director of the Mt. Blanca Summer Music Conservatory, Off returns to the Valley to perform this exciting and extremely challenging work, under the direction of James W. Doyle, D.M.A., associate professor of music and director of the University Percussion Ensemble.
Off, based in Phoenix, has performed in ensembles and events throughout the world. She has been a part of Arizona Contemporary Music Ensemble, the American Composer Alliance, and co-founder and artistic director of the Mt. Blanca Summer Music Conservatory in Colorado.
The concert will also feature Matthew Valverde, D.M.A., assistant professor of music, in Steven Mackey’s unique work for percussion quartet and tenor soloist, “Madrigal,” and Tracy Doyle, D.M.A., professor of music, in the groove-inspired “Hammers” by Allison Loggins-Hull for flute and percussion trio.
In addition to three collaborative works with featured artists, the concert will pay homage to the history and development of the contemporary percussion ensemble with a performance of “Toccata for Percussion” by the late Mexican composer, Carlos Chávez, and the rudimental drumming traditions of percussion with a performance of Shaun Tilburg’s “The Infantryman.”
Two award-winning composers are also represented, including the prolific American composer Marilyn Bliss’ “Aurora Borealis” and Pulitzer Prize winner Steve Reich’s “Clapping Music.” The Adams State Percussion Ensemble will also perform an exciting and unique adaptation of this work, “Clapping Music Variations,” composed by Glenn Kotche, drummer for the Grammy Award-winning band, Wilco.
The concert is $5 for adults, $1 for students, and free to AS&F and Friends of Music. For more information, please call 719-587-7621.
