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 The percussion ensemble was established in 2001 as an official part of
the university ensemble curriculum. They have since performed all over
the state of Georgia, presenting a wide variety of pieces from the
traditional repertoire to world premieres of contemporary works.
 Each year, the ensemble premieres a new work written specifically for
its spring semester concert tour. The
2004 collaboration with composer/bagpiper Matthew Welch entitled
The Self And The Other (a
double concerto for bagpipes, piano and percussion ensemble) served as
the cornerstone for the composer’s new CD Dream Tigers released on John
Zorn’s TZADIK label renowned for its support of avant-guarde and
contemporary music.
Carson McCullers Composer Residency Program
Columbus State University’s Carson McCullers Center for Writers and
Musicians, in collaboration with the Schwob School of Music, is pleased
to announce the establishment of the Carson McCullers Composer Residency
Program in 2006. Made possible by contributions to CSU’s Capital Campaign, the
program will annually commission an internationally-known composer to write a
new work for the CSU Percussion Ensemble, which will perform the world
premiere of the commissioned piece. In addition, the CSU Contemporary
Music Ensemble will each spring present an entire program dedicated to
the guest composer’s work, an activity that will involve many students
and faculty members working closely with the composer in rehearsals
during the week leading up to the concert. During this time, the guest
composer will reside in the Carson McCullers House on Stark Avenue in
Columbus.
 Last year's Carson McCullers Resident Composer was Dr. Eric Moe. A
composer of what the NY Times calls "music of winning exuberance,” Dr.
Moe has received numerous grants and awards for his work. The work
entitled I Have Only One Itching Desire for percussion ensemble,
was based on the drumming from the Jimmy Hendrix tune FIRE.
 Brian Cherney is this year’s resident composer and is one of Canada’s most important composers.
Canadian composer Brian
Cherney (b.1942) studied composition with Samuel Dolin at the Royal
Conservatory of Music in Toronto and with John Weinzweig at the
University of Toronto and received graduate degrees from the University
of Toronto in both composition (Mus.M.'67) and musicology (Ph.D.'74).
Since 1972 he has been on the staff of the Schulich School of Music at
McGill University in Montreal, where he teaches composition,
twentieth-century analysis and twentieth-century music history.
Since 1974 alone, Cherney has written more than sixty pieces, which have been performed
and broadcast throughout Canada and also in Europe, the United States,
South America and Japan. He has received commissions from many
organizations and performers over the years, including the Canadian
Broadcasting Corporation, La Société de musique contemporaine du Québec
, the Esprit Orchestra, the 1990 New Music America Festival, Le Nouvel
ensemble moderne , Amici , the Pierrot Ensemble, The Montreal Symphony
Orchestra, L'Orchestre Symphonique de Québec, The Strings of the Future,
Rivka Golani, Lawrence Cherney, Louis-Philippe Pelletier, Robert Aitken,
Antonio Lysy, Vivienne Spiteri, Marc Couroux and Julie- Anne Derome.
In 1979 Cherney's String Trio, a CBC commission, tied for first place among the "recommended"
works at the International Rostrum of Composers in Paris. In 1985 he was
awarded the Jules Léger Prize for New Chamber Music for River of Fire, a
work for oboe d'amore and harp. His 1995 orchestral work, Et la solitude
dérive au fil des fleuves... (1995), commissioned by the Montreal
Symphony Orchestra, was premiered by that orchestra, under Charles
Dutoit, on May 28 and 29, 1996, in Montreal. Another recent piece,
Echoes in the Memory (1997), commissioned by the CBC for the Toronto
group, Amici , was premiered by that group in Toronto on November 21,
1997. In July, 1998, a new work for flute and percussion, Entendre
marcher un ange , was premiered by Andrée Martin and Paul Vaillancourt
at the Sound Symposium in Newfoundland. On October 21, 1998, the
Contemporary Chamber Players of SUNY at Stony Brook, New York, presented
a concert which included five of Cherney's pieces, dating from 1983 to
1998.
Dr. Paul Vaillancourt, professor of percussion in CSU’s Schwob School of
Music, and Cathy Fussell, Director of CSU’s Carson McCullers Center for
Writers and Musicians, direct the Carson McCullers Composer
Residency Program.
2006-2007 Percussion Ensemble and Studio Concert Activities
Percussion Ensemble:
Friday, Nov. 3 - RiverCenter, CSU 7:30
Saturday, Nov. 4 - Dutchtown High School
Workshops 1:00 -3:30 p.m., concert 4 p.m.
Thursday, Nov. 9 - Pope and Brookwood high schools
Saturday, Nov. 11 - Callaway Auditorium, LaGrange College 7:30 p.m.
Friday, Jan. 19 - CSU Honor Band 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, Feb. 22 - Columbus Museum, University Night 6 p.m.
Tuesday, April 17 - Carson McCullers Residency – Brian Cherney
with Contemporary Ensemble 7:30 p.m.
Friday, April 20 - RiverCenter, Carson McCullers Residency 7:30
November Program:
Factions - Lynn
Glassock
Rhythmic Soundscape No. 5 - Max Lifchitz
Music For Pieces of Wood - Steve Reich
The Whole Toy Laid Down - Dave Hollinden
Omphalo Centric Lecture - Nigel Westlake
Bonham - Christopher Rouse
Student Recitals:
Friday, Dec. 8 Daniel Bowden, works by Hollinden, Burritt, Carter, Goto, Lang
April dates tba: Jennifer Wagner, Justin Baker, Jonathan Spangler
Repertoire performed since 2001
Ionisation-Edgard Varese
Fist Through Traffic for Saxophone and Percussion Ensemble-Charles
Griffin
Stèle-Gerard Grisey
Crazyhorse (World Premiere) Concerto for Trumpet and Percussion
Ensemble-John Parcell
The Self and the Other (World Premiere), Double Concerto for Piano and
Bagpipes with
Percussion Ensemble-Matthew Welch
Concert Piece in Three Movement, Concerto for Timpani and Percussion
Ensemble-Allen Houston
Ku-ka-ilimoku-Christopher Rouse
Dream Sequence for Solo Trombone and Percussion Quartet-Howard Buss
Between the Lines- Lynn Glassock
Spiritual Dances for solo clarinet and Percussion Ensemble,
Return to Innocence,
Normandy Beach- David Gillingham
An Idyll for the Misbegotten for Amplified Flute and Percussion
Ensemble-George Crumb
Timeless for solo percussion and Percussion Ensemble-Michael Burritt
Little Eye for solo cello and Percussion Quartet-David Lang
Concerto No. 1 for Marimba and Percussion Ensemble-Ney Rosauro
One Eyed Jacks-Marc Ford
The Whistler, Chromatic Foxtrot, Charlestown Capers-G.H. Green
Phase Dance-Pat Metheny
Canticle No. 3, Fifth Percussion Symphony for Percussion Quartet-Lou
Harrison
Take That-William Albright
Square Corners-Dave Samuels
Music for Pieces of Wood, Music for Mallet Instruments, Voices and
Organ-Steve Reich
Tocatta-Carlos Chavez
Touring
The CSU Percussion Ensemble’s yearly activities include tours to high
schools programs across the state. Since 2001, the ensemble has
performed at the following high schools and events:
Columbus High School
Hardaway High School
Kell High School
Pope High School
Lassiter High School
Sprayberry High School
Houston County High School
Starr’s Mill High School
East Coweta High School
Georgia Day of Percussion-2002
GMEA in-house Conference-2004 |
