Percussion Concert Pictures from 4/21 at the Museum

I've posted some pictures to Flickr from the April 21 performance by the Auburn University percussion studio. I was very impressed. They did a marimba trio by Rudiger Passawar that sounded great. I don't otherwise know the composer, but his piece reminded me a little of Bob Mintzer's sax quartet writing. At least, it used that same kind of harmonic language. An Eric Ewazen marimba-piano duet was very good. Shelby Blezinger's marimba solo was tremendous.

I liked everything they did, though when Hunter Jackson and Aaron Locklear did their djembe duet, you could tell they were holding back. There were concerns about the volume level in that boomy room, but the drum work from the group was nowhere near as loud as even one of the marimbas. That surprised me, and I loved it. The sound just filled the room and surrounded my head...probably not just mine.

If you get a chance to hear them, go. I'll keep an eye out for their performances. The variations in instrumentation makes it interesting, and the students' talent, brought out in large part by percussion professor Doug Rosener, makes it good.

Click the picture below to see a slide show of all of the pictures I've taken from the spring series. I have more in the camera of the AU bassoon and sax groups from April 28 and the recorder show from May 12. I know you've been wondering.