OHIO Percussion ensemble, School of Music to present concert of music by acclaimed female composers

Photo courtesy of: Ohio University Percussion Ensemble2017 Ohio University Percussion Ensemble

The School of Music and the Ohio University Percussion Ensemble will present a concert of music for percussion, featuring women composers, in the Glidden Recital Hall at Ohio University at 8 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 16. Directed by Professor Roger Braun and graduate teaching assistants Forrest Yankey and Ryan Swanson, the concert will feature a diverse program of new and classic works.

Two recent winners of the Pulitzer Prize in music, Julia Wolfe and Jennifer Higdon, are among the featured composers. Wolfe’s “Dark Full Ride” and Higdon’s “Splendid Wood” are among the most challenging and exciting pieces for percussion ensemble, and 1930s compositions by composers Johanna Beyer and Franziska Boas were some of the very first for percussion ensemble. The program also includes a work by Ohio University graduate Chichun Lee and crowd-pleasing pieces from Susan Powell, Evelyn Glennie and Keiko Abe.

The Percussion Ensemble is composed of Seth Alexander, Jack Barry, Josh Cleland, Ryan Garrett, Garrett Greene, Jake Evans, Alex Johnstone, Adam Jones, Reuben Miller, Savannah Schuring, Morgan Sieg, Ryan Swanson, Kyle Turner, Austin Walsh, Garrett Weddington and Forrest Yankey.

The Ohio University Percussion Ensemble performs a wide variety of innovative and influential music composed for percussion instruments. Performances by the ensemble have been featured at national and international conventions as well as schools and universities throughout the region. The ensemble also received excellent international reviews for its performances of Tan Dun’s “Elegy: Snow in June” and Lou Harrison’s “Concerto for Violin and Percussion Orchestra” recorded on the CD “Sticks and Stones: Music for Percussion and Strings,” released on Equilibrium Records.