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FSU’s Department of Music to Present Percussion Ensemble

The Frostburg State University Department of Music will present the Percussion Ensemble in the first of its two spring concerts on Thursday, Feb. 28, at 7:30 p.m. in the Pealer Recital Hall of FSU's Woodward D. Pealer Performing Arts Center. The recital is free and open to the public.

Directed by Dr. Mackenzie Jacob LaMont, the concert will feature Carlos Chávez’s classic “Toccata” for percussion sextet; the first movement of Ludwig van Beethoven’s immortal “Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp Minor ‘Quasi una fantasia,’ Op. 27, No. 2,” popularly known as the “Moonlight Sonata,” arranged by Beth Gottlieb for percussion ensemble; and Anthony J. Cirone’s “Triptych” for percussion quartet.

Chávez was a Mexican conductor and composer whose music combines elements of traditional folk songs and modern compositional techniques. His “Toccata” is one of the first major pieces written for percussion ensemble alone, and perhaps the first in a Classical, multi-movement form. The first movement is primarily for drums; the second one casts a mysterious spell with mainly metallic instruments. Both types are combined for the scherzo. A wonder of this piece is that Chávez kept such a pure, Classical feeling about this percussion masterpiece.

The “Moonlight Sonata” is possibly the most famous of the Beethoven sonatas. This solo piano work is admired particularly for its mysterious and seemingly improvised first movement. The piece was completed in 1801, published the following year and premiered by the composer himself, whose hearing was already deteriorating at the time. The nickname “Moonlight Sonata” traces to the 1830s, when German Romantic poet Ludwig Rellstab published a review in which he likened the first movement to a boat floating in the moonlight on Switzerland’s Lake Lucerne. Beethoven dedicated the work to Countess Giulietta Guicciardi, a 16-year-old aristocrat who was his student for a short time. Gottlieb, the arranger of this movement, is an internationally recognized performer, teacher, clinician and soloist.

“Triptych,” a 15-minute work in three diverse movements, was written in 1971 when Cirone was a percussionist at the San Francisco Symphony and a professor at San Jose State University. He would go on to teach at Stanford University, San Francisco State University and Indiana University. Cirone serves as an executive editor of percussion publications through Meredith Music Publications and is a clinician for several companies. Some of his most lasting contributions to the world of percussion, besides his compositions, teaching and performance history, are his many educational method books.

Percussion Ensemble students include Ryan Barber, Blaine Becker, Deandre Cook, Anthony Fasci, Christopher Hess, Hannah Howard, Cheyenne Jeffries, Kamonte Johnson, Nathan Kopit, Preston Leshinskie, Hanna Livingston, Reiss Mikula and Garrett Spence. They are joined by guest artists Andrew McEwen and Dr. Karen Lau of the Music Department.

For more information, contact the Department of Music at 301-687-4109.

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