The Christopher Newport University Percussion Ensemble performed their “Tribal” themed showcase last Thursday in Peebles Theatre. Friends and family gathered to experience what Director Scott Amman described as a performance that would “evoke the imagery of a lost tribe in the middle of nowhere.” Within the ensemble there is a wide variety of skills and background experience and many of the percussionists are a part of The Marching Captains.
The percussion ensemble performed six pieces, opening the show with “Tribe” by Chad Heiny. This piece followed the elements of a tribal ceremony, and had a fast-paced energy that kept the audience on their toes. Percussionists were both on stage and in the balcony surrounding the audience for this piece, creating an immersive sound. The ensemble then transitioned from the intense tribal sound to Brian Blume’s “West Winds”, which Amman described as “a gentle breeze of the wind and a sense of calm.” This piece featured lots of windchimes and cymbals, creating the illusion of wind sounds.
The next piece, titled “Six Marimbas” featured six percussionists on stage without Director Scott, who introduced the piece as “Very calming and relaxing. Nothing’s gonna jump out at you and scare you like the first piece.” The piece begins with three marimbas playing the same eight beat rhythmic pattern, but with different notes for each marimba. One of the other marimbas begins to gradually build up the exact pattern of one of the marimbas already playing by putting the notes of the fifth beat on the seventh beat, then putting the notes of the first beat on the third beat, and so on, reconstructing the same pattern with the same notes, but two beats out of phase. The six percussionists played for an impressive 26 minutes straight–audience members could see them shake their hands out as they walked off stage. They then moved on to “Island Echoes” by Nancy Galbraith, who actually visited campus earlier in the semester to watch them perform this piece for her.
The fifth piece was Camile Saint-Saens’ “Danse Macabre”. This piece is linked to an old legend: Death appears at midnight every year on Halloween. Death calls forth the dead from their graves to dance for him while he plays his fiddle (here represented by Senior Ethan Wills on the xylophone). His skeletons dance for him until the cockerel crows at dawn, when they must return to their graves until the next year.
The final piece, Francisco Perez’s “Fuerza Negra”, has an unstoppable groove, which draws from the rhythms and harmonies of Latin, pop and rock music. It was definitely a crowd favorite!
The CNU Percussion Ensemble presents a new showcase every semester, so keep an eye out in the future!
