NATCHITOCHES – Northwestern State University’s Percussion Ensemble will present a concert on Monday, Nov 8 at 7:30 p.m. in Magale Recital Hall. Admission is free and open to the public. Those attending are asked to follow university regulations and to wear a mask at all times in the building A livestream will be available at capansulaedu/livestream.
The concert is a preview of what the ensemble will perform at the 2021 Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC) New Literature Showcase on Nov. 12 in Indianapolis. The Percussion Ensemble will also perform on Nov 9 at the University of Memphis.
The session is a 90-minute concert that focuses on pieces composed or published within the last five years. The program consists of 16 works that vary in difficulty and instrumentation, from pieces for percussion orchestra to a quintet of cabasas. Four pieces were commissioned by the ensemble to be premiered this year, including “Trinetik” by Andrea Venet, “Arcus Nubes” by Joe Moore, “Fuerza Negra” by Francisco Perez and “Tang Meng” by Tao Li.
The percussion program at Northwestern State is under the direction of Ken Green and Dr. Oliver Molina. The studio averages 30 music majors per year in music education, performance and business. The studio comprises students from Louisiana, Texas, and international students from Central and South America. The percussion ensemble performs two concerts a year, one each semester. The concerts include a wide variety of works from small chamber pieces to large works for percussion orchestra. New contemporary works along with ragtime, orchestral transcriptions, ancient rudimental drumming and pop tunes also are regularly programmed. Recently, the ensemble has performed at the National Conference on Percussion Pedagogy and has toured throughout Louisiana and Texas to recruit the top talent in the region. At PASIC 2019, the ensemble won first place at the Concert Chamber Competition – Collegiate Division.
Percussion students at NSU are able to participate in a number of ensembles including the 300-plus member Spirit of Northwestern Marching Band, Purple Haze Pep Band, Natchitoches-Northwestern Symphony Orchestra, the NSU Jazz Orchestra, jazz combos and steel band. Other performance opportunities include performing on productions such as musicals and dinner theaters, collaborations on dance department recitals and in the annual Christmas Gala.
Members are Daquan Beasley and Steven Wimberly of Pineville, Carson Brown of DeRidder, Hunter Brown of Raceland, Elias Castro-Caballero of Cartagena, Colombia, Jacob Cavell and John Lewis of Bossier City, Kora Chauveaux, Zachary Duhon and Zachary LaFosse of Lafayette, Brandon Duecker of Tyler, Texas, Anthony Flores of Los Fresnos, Texas, Jackson Forester of Garland, Texas, Joshua Jones of Haughton, Roger Jones III of New Orleans, Emily Landers of Texarkana, Texas, Covie Latham of Beckville, Texas, Austin Myers of Pittsburg, Texas, Henry Pineda Godoy of Tegucigalpa, Honduras, Caroline Shepherd and Adam Trupp of Frisco, Texas, Mason Trumps of Pollock and Sam Ward of Stonewall.
