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Percussion Ensemble To Perform Diverse, High-Energy Music

When the Alma College Percussion Ensemble presents its annual fall concert, the audience can expect a wide variety of music with no two pieces sounding alike, according to faculty director and group founder David Zerbe.

The Percussion Ensemble performs at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 21 in the Remick Heritage Center at Alma College.  Tickets are $8 for adults and free for Alma College students and youth 18 and under.  Call (989) 463-7304 for ticket information.

The Chamber Ensemble, Jazz Percussion and Steel Drum Ensemble, and World Music Group will perform the music of John Cage, Johannes Brahms, the Yellow Jackets and others. The ensembles comprise Alma College students. 

“The student performers bring a high degree of professionalism, energy and musicality to their performance,” says Zerbe. “They are committed to the music they perform and are unwilling to settle for less than what the music requires to be performed at the highest level.”

The first half of the concert contains music that the audience might be familiar with, including “Second Construction” by John Cage and “Stained Glass” by David Gillingham. Also in this half are “Scherzo” from Brahms’s Piano Quintet in F minor, Opus 34, and “Fluffy Ruffles” by Harry Breuer.

The program’s second half consists of five songs that present a range of styles and sounds, including “Omphalo Centric Lecture” by Nigel Westlake, “Latin Train” by Arturo Sandavol and Wayne Shorter’s “Footprints,” as well as “Time Check” by Don Menza and “Freda” by the Yellow Jackets. 

“The show will be entertaining and enlightening,” says Zerbe.

Since its establishment in 1989, the Percussion Ensemble has increased in size and prestige. Four times its original size, the Ensemble is made up 32 musicians, 22 of whom are music majors with an emphasis in percussion. The remainder of the students have a background in music or percussive studies and “are willing to work at the level required to perform in the ensemble,” says Zerbe. 

The nationally acknowledged ensemble visited Chicago last February, where the group mentored students at the Chicago Choir Academy and performed at First Presbyterian Church at Wilmette before heading to the Notre Dame Festival. 

In addition to working and performing locally, the Ensemble has been invited to perform at the Michigan Music Conference in January of 2007 and will be sharing the stage with the Alma College Choir in DeVos Hall in Grand Rapids. 

“We also have been invited to perform at the Centrum Jazz Festival in Port Townshed in Washington in July of 2007,” says Zerbe. “This is a very prestigious professional jazz festival, and it is an honor to be invited to perform.”

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Alma College students have the ability to design their own area of academic concentration—with the assistance of a faculty advisor—to meet specific educational or career goals. In recent years, students have graduated with Programs of Emphasis majors in such fields as arts management, archaeology and anthropology, environmental policy and community advocacy, Foreign Service and international law, and music technology and digital media.

 

Student Profile

Michael Reeves

Michael Reeves
Graduation: 2014
Major: Elementary Education

Elementary education major Michael Reeves has always loved working with children, which is why he wants to be a third- or fourth-grade teacher after graduating from Alma College.

“At that age, kids are really starting to get into more depth in their learning, and it is a pivotal point because it’s when they start to either love or hate school,” he says. “I want to help them develop a love of learning. For me, seeing the moment when it clicks, and they understand something you’ve taught them is probably the best feeling in the world.”