Dr. John Pennington, an educator, composer, performer, author, producer and conductor, will perform as a guest artist at Adams State University. The percussion recital, Sounds of The Earth, begins at 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 26, in Leon Memorial Hall.
Pennington will perform Moon Child, by Keith Jarrett; Adagio from Sonata I. for Solo Violin, by Paul Creston; Asturias – Leyenda, by Isaac Albeniz and adapted by B. Michael Williams; as well as his own music, Five Elements (Wu Xing).
Pennington is currently a professor of music at Augustana College, located in Illinois, and the artistic director of the Animas Music Festival in Durango, Colo. He holds degrees from the University of Michigan, Arizona, and Arizona State. As an orchestral player, Pennington is currently the associate principal timpanist and percussionist with the South Dakota Symphony and principal timpanist with the Music in the Mountains Music Summer Festival Orchestra.
Pennington presents concerts, clinics and masterclasses as a cultural envoy for the State Department in the Middle East (Lebanon). With performances on four continents and over twenty-five states he has performed on Prairie Home Companion and been a featured performer at six Percussive Arts Society International Conventions. Active as a composer and arranger he has over thirty compositions for soloist, duo, chamber and films and dozens of arrangements for numerous instrumental and vocal combinations. With over thirty recordings to date he has recorded for the Ensemble 21, Summit, Cristo, OCP, and Equilibrium labels. Extensive studies in world music have included experience in African, Middle Eastern, Indonesian, Cuban and the South Indian Karnatak tradition.
Recently, Pennington continues to study the Northern Hindustani traditions of music in Haridwar and Delhi, India and the Javanese and Balinese traditions of Indonesia. Please visit John Pennington for more information.
For more information about the concert, contact the Adams State Music Office at 719-587-7621.
