The Adams State University 2015 Faculty Lecture Nigel Westlake’s The Invisible Men: The Junction of 1906 French Silent Film and the Modern Percussion Quartet, by James Doyle, assistant professor of music, begins at 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 1, in Richardson Hall Auditorium – please note the location change.
Nigel Westlake’s percussion quartet The Invisible Men is an important contribution to the percussion repertoire, providing challenges to performers both musically and technologically. Westlake, a noted Australian film score composer, wrote the piece as an accompaniment to the French film, Les Invisibles, produced by Pathé-Frères in 1906. The film was originally part of the live show performed by the early twentieth century Australian-based touring troupe, The Marvelous Corricks. This ten minute and thirty second work requires four percussionists to perform more than sixty percussion instruments. While the concept of performing live music to a silent film is as old as film itself, this multi-media work written in 1996 and premiered by the Australian percussion group, Synergy Percussion, was specifically notated to capture every cue in this exciting and whimsical film.
All talks are free and the public is invited. Complimentary light refreshments will be offered. For further information on the series of lectures, contact Dr. Kristy Duran, assistant professor of biology, at 719-587-7767, or klduran@adams.edu.
