NATCHITOCHES – Percussionist Dr. Kathryn Irwin will perform at Northwestern State University on Thursday, Feb. 9 at 7:30 p.m. in Magale Recital Hall. Admission is free and open to the public. A live stream will be available at capa.nsula.edu/livestream/
The concert will feature works by Iannis Xenakis, Yasuo Sueyoshi, Andy Akiho, Elliot Cole and Joe W. Moore III.
Irwin is a visiting assistant professor of percussion in the University of Louisiana Monroe School of Visual and Performing Arts. Irwin is a percussion performer and educator from Petal, Mississippi. In 2018, she completed the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in percussion performance at Michigan State University with Gwendolyn Dease and Jon Weber. She completed her Master of Music degree in percussion performance at the University of Kansas with Ji Hye Jung and adjunct professors Lee Vinson and Brandon Draper. She received her Bachelor of Music Education degree from Louisiana State University with percussionist Brett William Dietz.
Irwin has performed with scholastic and professional ensembles throughout the United States, Europe and Asia. Performances include Toho Gakuen School of Music in Tokyo for renowned percussionist Keiko Abe, Soochow University in Taiwan, the Cortona Sessions for New Music in Italy, the Eutiner Festspiele and Carl Maria von Weber Concert of Chamber Music in Germany, and the Percussive Arts Society International Convention in Indianapolis. She has also performed in notable masterclasses and clinics given by the members of Sō Percussion, Robert van Sice, Tom Freer, Keith Aleo, Meehan/Perkins Duo, Ayano Kataoka, Naoko Takada and many others.
As an active soloist and chamber musician in the percussion community, Irwin is an advocate of expanding the percussion repertoire and prioritizes commissioning new works. She has commissioned composers such as Elliot Cole, Molly Joyce, Moore, Brett William Dietz, and Dave Molk. She enjoys working on collaborative projects with artists of other mediums and professionals outside the field of music as well. The most recent commission of “Is This Madness?,” a work for solo percussion and electronics, aims to raise awareness and grow support for members of the bipolar community through performances and clinics. This project consisted of a collaboration with a member of the bipolar community, a licensed psychiatrist and Moore.
