Alma Percussionists To Share National Stage
Two mid-Michigan percussion ensembles will preview upcoming national performances in a special concert at 8 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 13 in the Remick Heritage Center at Alma College. Admission is free and open to the public.
The percussionists will share the stage with some of the nation’s top and most well-known performance groups during a pair of upcoming jazz festivals.
The Legacy Percussion Orchestra, a group formed by Alma College’s Dave Zerbe, will perform at the prestigious Lionel Hampton International Jazz Festival at 8:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 26 on the University of Idaho campus in Moscow, Idaho.
Dave Zerbe
The 20-member all-star group, featuring Zerbe and current Alma College senior Scott Brown along with seven Alma College percussion alumni plus musicians from the Robert Hohner Ensemble, will perform on the festival’s main stage in the enclosed football stadium.
“The festival features 25 stages over four days, with middle school, high school and collegiate groups from around the world performing and being critiqued,” says Zerbe. “John Clayton, an internationally renowned bassist and the festival’s artistic director, invited us to close the festival with a 60-minute set with an arrangement of ‘What a Wonderful World’ that he is arranging especially for us. It is a tradition that the festival be closed with this piece.
“Performing in the company of some of the other famous groups headlining the festival, including The Manhattan Transfer, The Victor Wooten Band and the Lionel Hampton New York Big Band, is a kick for us,” says Zerbe.
Clayton invited Zerbe to form the all-star group, which includes Alma College alumni Reese Gall, Erika Schroeder, Joe Moscheck, Charlie Rockwell, Nathan Schulte, Nick Terpstra and Antosia Myers.
On Saturday, March 5, the Alma College Percussion Ensemble performs at Washington Hall Theatre on the Notre Dame campus at the 53rd annual Notre Dame Collegiate Jazz Festival. This will be the group’s sixth consecutive invitation to play at the national festival.
Both groups will preview their national performances at 8 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 13 in the Remick Heritage Center at Alma College. The Alma College Percussion Ensemble will perform its 30-minute set for the Notre Dame Festival, followed by the Legacy Percussion Orchestra’s one-hour set for the Lionel Hampton festival.
Posted: Sat, February 5th, 2011 at 8:43AM
