Ethos Percussion Offers Diverse Musical Experience
KEENE, N.H., 2/10/10 - Ethos Percussion Group will jive to the rhythms of India, West Africa, and the Middle East during a concert that also pays tribute to well-known percussionists on Wednesday, Feb. 24, at 7:30 p.m. in the Alumni Recital Hall at the Redfern Arts Center on Brickyard Pond at Keene State College. Concert tickets range from $26 for adults to $14 for children. Ethos Percussion will conduct a percussion clinic at 2 p.m. the same day, which is free and open to the public. For tickets, contact the box office at 603-358-2168 or visit www.keene.edu/racbp.
The quartet’s critically acclaimed performances regularly feature numerous commissions and world premieres; traditional influences from India, West Africa, and the Middle East; and landmark works by composers such as John Cage, Philip Glass, Lou Harrison, Steve Reich, and Frank Zappa. For nearly 20 years, Ethos Percussion Group has inspired audiences throughout the country with its exceptional music making and collective devotion to the incredibly diverse world of percussion music. “Ethos wows with energy, virtuosity,” wrote a Kansas City Star reviewer.
Ensemble members Trey Files, Eric Phinney, Yousif Sheronick, and David Shively are accomplished classical and world-music artists, each with a distinctive background and musical perspective. Their substantial combined expertise is the source of Ethos’ innovative programming, which integrates global instruments and playing styles into the conventions of Western chamber music to create a visually and aurally compelling experience.
The New York Times reported that Ethos “played with expert togetherness, sensitivity, and zest.”
Their Feb. 24 Explorers and Heroes program will present landmark works by iconic composers Cage, Harrison, Reich, and Zappa, each of whom challenged percussionists in new and innovative ways: Cage, Harrison, and Reich added uniquely American dialects to their Asian and African influences, while Zappa brought rock-and-roll instrumentation and a healthy dose of humor to the rhythmic and tonal complexity associated with the European avant garde. Together, their percussive textures and individual sensibilities indelibly shaped the sound of 20th and 21st century American music. With a battery of instruments, including the “found objects” in pieces written by Harrison and Cage, Ethos breathes fresh life into these groundbreaking chamber works.
Ethos Percussion also will play classic repertoire from the 1940s and 1970s juxtaposed with new arrangements created especially for this concert. The program will include the ensemble’s recent commissions from young composers carrying on the tradition established by these “fathers of invention” into the 21st century.
To request accommodations for a disability, please call the Redfern Arts Center at least one week before the performance. For further information, call the box office, 603-358-2168, or visit www.keene.edu/racbp, where you can view video clips of Ethos Percussion Group and other upcoming performances at the Redfern Arts Center.
